


AARRGG ya ready ta be dun fucked?

by comic4244, gaylie



Series: comic & gaylie's RPs [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Rape, Captivity, Gore, M/M, Murder, One Night Stands, Pirate AU, Polyamory, Violence, everyone hates gaster when hes just trying his best, i feel bad for him, implied rape, rp/roleplay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-09-16 06:29:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 87,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16948776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comic4244/pseuds/comic4244, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylie/pseuds/gaylie
Summary: After finding out that his father’s ship has been attacked, Sans doesn’t hesitate a second to go out to find his family. However without any sailing experience, and the threat of the two most merciless pirates, the reaper brother’s, having been the ones to attack the ship, Sans would not last a day out there.Good thing his latest one-night-stands, one of which is also conveniently a skilled guardsman, are ready to help him.





	1. HOOKING skeletons up at a bar

**Author's Note:**

> this is one of my favorite ones tbh, but its also pretty gorey at parts so beware!! its also one of our earlier ones (the third one we ever did)

A flame monster enters a tavern, the air was thick with liquor and smoke, the lighting dull enough to give you the sense of comfort and ease, even if it was rowdy and active inside. Many wooden table tables were scattered around the main area evenly, with acting as barriers as chairs, most with fading labels on the side from where they were stolen from or picked up after being left and forgotten. The walls had hanged knick knacks all around, some with paintings, some little models of boats, and boards with the latest news, rewards and wanted posters.

 

One article from the news section had one about current movements and improvements the king Asgore has made the following few days. Others of lost children and reward money either on the bottom or top of the paper, all with the money amount in big letters to catch the viewers attention. The others were wanted posters, but the flame knew the sketched pictures were over exaggerated, working as a loyal soldier for king Asgore, he met with many criminals that he saw in wanted posters, yet the pictures all made the villains look more evil than they actually were.

 

Take one wanted poster for example, with the criminal’s name as ‘Laylie’, they looked evil and down right looked like satan himself possessed this person, yet the flame doubted they actually looked like this, in real life, most likely looked like a scrawny loser with no direction. 

 

Or another wanted poster, with two skeleton monsters, on with a pirate hat with a face that will make any child cry and adults piss their pants. Or the other skeleton having his hood over his eyes, almost covering his nose, with the most sinister smile that will leave you with nightmares. He highly doubted these two looked like that either, just so the posters bring across the fact they were dangerous and needed to be killed.

 

Both posters said dead or alive…

 

The flame walked over to the bar and signaled over another fire monster, getting his attention quickly. 

  
  


The busboy noticed the other elemental rather quickly. Or so he believed at least, though it was hard to tell from his point of view, having been busy trying to worm his way through the midst of what would probably very quickly turn into a fight.

 

Though it was always a relief to have the other flame visit their tavern.

 

He made his way over to him quickly, making sure the owner of the tavern wasn’t paying attention when he dropped the act of being busy. “Hey Hearth,” he sighed out with an amount of relief like the other had just saved him from a life threatening event. “Good to see you.”

  
  


Hearth smiled, leaning his gun on the table and fixing his royal purple coat to get rid of that tight feeling. “Nice to see you too, Grillby! How you been old friend?” The older flame leans more onto the long counter, his elbows supporting his weight while he arches his back slights until it pops lightly, before relaxing in his seat.

  
  


There was a small, bitter part of Grillby that just wanted to take the opportunity to rant right then and there. Complain about what has been his life since the day he’d been old enough to understand commands and follow them. Though really, he knew well enough that there was no point in doing so, that everyone would be served better if he’d just go with it.

 

“Been okay,” was what the elemental ended up replying. “Not exactly a lot to happen if you’re stuck here.” There might’ve been at first. With the tavern being so close to the docks, it was one of the first places to see for many traveling shipmen, so their customers came in variety. Though even that variety got old after a while, especially if their variety usually ended up fading into the same old pattern Grillby had seen in almost every one of their customers once they got drunk enough to start fights.

 

“What about you?”

  
  


“Yeah? Well it’s been pretty melow for me lately. Since I don’t go on trips on the seas as the others do, I don’t see much action. But I’m fine with that to be honest, action surrounded by water…. doesn’t sound so great.” Hearth laughed lightly. “Oh, also my usual please.” He added quickly, which just consisted in a mug of rum and a sandwich. This place was known to making a mean sandwich.

  
  


“Sure, right away,” Grillby replied quickly, more out of reflex than anything else. He called Hearth’s usual order over to the kitchen, while getting the mug of rum himself, quickly handing it towards the other elemental.

 

“Guess we both could use some change,” Grillby continued their conversation like it never stopped, ignoring anyone else that might try to get his attention. As long as the owner wouldn’t see him he should be fine, and really, Grillby deserved his break.

  
  


“Damn, what would I do for a good fuck, am I right? Just there ain’t good looking monsters around, what a shame.” Hearth sighed, already taking a big gulp of his rum, his flames sparked and raised higher slightly before calming right back down.

 

-

 

Though there was one insanely good looking monster around, on his own way towards the tavern. He wasn’t usually supposed to go there. His father said the people in those places were dangerous and the food and drinks not worth their money. His brother said those places always reeked of cheap alcohol and other things he’d like to not think about.

 

Him personally? He never cared. The food always seemed alright, the drunken people always were hilarious to watch go at each other. The alcohol wasn’t great, but it was strong, and all in all Sans simply found a visit to the tavern more entertaining than joining his father on another trip for their king.

 

He’s done that, he’s been there, he was over it.

 

So once his father and brother left for a few days, leaving him with more than enough doubloons to provide for himself for these days.

 

This wasn’t the first time he’s been to this specific tavern, though he was far from a regular. So he wasn’t exactly paying attention to any of the monsters around, least of all the elemental at the other end of the tavern, casually pointing his head towards the newcomer as he said to Hearth,

 

“What about that one?”

  
  


Hearth turned his upper body around to see where his friend was pointing, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of the skeleton who just walked in. He was short but oh so cute, it made Hearth’s breath catch in his throat. 

 

“Oh… he will do indeed.” Hearth laughed lightly, watching the skeleton’s hips and giggling under his breath for a while, watching the monster take his seat, Hearth gulping down his mug of his rum before standing. “I’m going to try my luck.” Hearth looked back at Grillby to give him an encouraging smile, even if  _ he  _ was the one that was seeking the encouragement. 

  
  


Grillby quirked a brow at Hearth, quickly throwing a glance to his back to check if anyone was there to watch him, before turning back to the other elemental, returning his encouraging smile with his own challenging one.

 

“Who said I was leaving him up to you?” He asked, quickly pouring two more mugs of rum, before circling the bar to head towards the skeleton himself, passing Hearth in the progress. “I’d also like some change in my routine, you know.”

  
  


Hearth looked at his friend in surprise, but let out a hearty laugh, “Well, that’s fine with me, as long as there isn’t no hard feelings between us after.” Hearth winked at Grillby before sped in front of him, to get to the skeleton before his friend.

 

“Well hello there sugar skull, what’s a fine looking thing like you doing here alone?” Hearth asked, smoothly going to the Sans’ left, smiling at him with the most charming and friendly smile he could muster, the one he reserves to the royal family and beautiful women…. and now men.

  
  


This was not what Sans had in mind when he entered a shabby tavern like this. Not to get attention. From a guy. That actually didn’t look like he was one of the usual drunken tavern guys Sans liked to make fun of so much. His uniform looked too clean for that, his posture too straight. Though his voice had a malicious intent behind it that was not very hard for Sans to figure out.

 

“just tryna look for a fun time,” Sans said casually, the words leaving him before he could quite think about them. But now they were out there, said and done, so it looks like Sans was going to lead on this royal soldier.

 

Grillby wasn’t too far from the scene, huffing when Hearth got a head-start, but not letting that stop him. He joined them quickly, sliding up to Sans’ free side.

  
“Hey there. That guy bothering you?” The elemental asked, the words directed at Sans, though his eyes were focused on Hearth, still challenging him.

 

Which the skeleton now stuck between two fire elementals was completely oblivious to.

  
“uh. not exactly…?”

  
  


“That’s good,” Hearth said, grabbing Sans’ hand lightly to press a soft kiss on his knuckles. “I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Hearth cooed, his voice low and soft, like he was talking to someone dear to him.

 

“Please don’t hesitate to tell me if I ever do~” He purred, making no room for Sans to feel forced or think any ill intent on his part. Hearth finished off with another warm smile and a wink at the skeleton, with a slight tilt to his head to give off a charming and harmless look.

  
  


Sans was pulling his hand back, though it was slow, eyes never leaving Hearth as he glanced him over in odd curiosity. This was not something Sans was used to. This was not a treatment that people usually did towards Sans. Usually Sans was just the kid that the others would clap on the back and laugh with, old enough to be part of the adults, but too young to actually be treated as one of them. That awkward phase where he didn’t exactly belonged anywhere, yet he was here, between two very tall elementals, one of which had just kissed his hand like he was some sort of royalty.

 

Alright. Alright. This was a thing that was happening now.

 

Grillby was not exactly surprised at his friends behavior and talent in charming people, though it was a cruel reminder that he had neither charm nor talent and really had only challenged Hearth as a joke. But he might as well give it a try. He  _ did _ want some change in his routine after all.

 

“Ain’t he a charmer?” He chuckled out softly, casually, before moving one of the mugs of rum closer to the skeleton. “I’ve brought you a drink. It’s on the house.” 

 

“oh damn, sweet,” Sans replied quickly, immediately getting his hands on the mug and taking a small swing of it. It wasn’t exactly like he couldn’t buy his own drinks, but, y’know. Free stuff. man. Free stuff. “good stuff. thanks.”

  
  


“Do you mind telling us your name?” Hearth asked, relaxing next to Sans and while glancing at Grillby for only a second. 

  
  


“‘s sans,” the skeleton replied casually, though still with a hint of curiosity. “mind tellin’ me what’s gotten you so awfully interested in me?”

  
  


“Nice to meet you Sans, I’m Hearth and my friend here is Grillby.” Hearth replied easily, now that he knew the little skeleton’s name, it’s only fair he gives his. “ You also act like there isn’t anything interesting about you? Which is wrong, there is something interesting and beautiful about everyone, I just simply see your own beauty.”

 

It was true, Hearth had a belief that there was something worth while inside  _ everyone _ . That everyone had something beautiful and amazing about them, it just took the right person to see it in the right angle. It just so happened Hearth saw the beauty in Sans.

  
  


“uhu,” Sans replied, sounding like he didn’t actually believe a word the elemental had just said, though there was a faint blush growing on his cheeks he tried to hide behind the mug as he took another swig.

 

‘Tried’ being the key-word, though, and Grillby could still tell the slight glow of color, giving Hearth an encouraging glance.    
  
“He’s not wrong, you know,” Grillby decided to agree with him. “I might not have my way with words the way he has, but it’s not easy to miss you’re pretty cute.”   
  
“th...anks…?” Sans muttered out awkwardly, not knowing how he was supposed to respond to either of this. Either of them. “guess y’re pretty… good… yourself?”

  
  


Hearth hummed, pleased with Sans reaction to the praise. “Now, before anything else, do you have anyone waiting for you?” He asked, he wouldn’t feel good in conscious if he decided to bed with someone who already had someone else. It also worked out to take the next step, which was to bring Sans home, well that was the plan at least.

 

Grillby knows this about himself, and glad he does. Hearth feels slightly better having Grillby there with him for some reason, like they were a team. Or maybe Hearth just knows Grillby wouldn’t hurt him on purpose, and would back him up when it comes to what’s right. Like cheating for example, now that was something they both can disagree with.

  
  


Sans could feel himself growing hotter with every passing minute, the longer the elemental spent time talking in on him, the more it dawned to Sans that this was actually currently a thing happening and that this - or  _ these two?  _ \- flames were  _ actually interested _ in Sans’.

 

The fact that the skeleton kept feeling the need to drown his own awkwardness with rum did not exactly help him with his situation. A situation he had admit was growing very interesting, though.

 

“nope,” he uttered out eventually. “‘m all free.”

  
  


“Oh?” Hearth’s smile grew, his hand moving to Sans’, slow enough to not startle, yet also making sure to keep it in view for Sans to see it coming, no tricks or sly movements. “Well, if you don’t mind, would you like spending the night with company?” His voice still soft and comforting. 

  
  


Sans was glancing from one elemental to the other, swallowing down the nervousness stuck in his throat.

  
“well, i ‘aven’t been looking like i minded so far, have i?” He countered back, still unsure which monster to keep his eyes on. Like a mouse cornered by two predators, except not really predatory on their behalf, and really just being Sans’ nerves.

 

Grillby glanced over to Hearth for a moment, giving him a triumphant smile. Though he wasn’t exactly sure how much he was going to put himself into this. He had been challenging Hearth to begin with, though this had clearly been a team effort. Grillby still didn’t want to take anything from his friend, but neither had Hearth seemed to exclude him so far.

 

“Even if it’s the both of us?” He finally decided to ask.

  
“i don’ mind,” was the quick reply he got from Sans, almost like that was the first thing he’d been sure of so far. “the more the merrier, r...right?”

  
  


Hearth nodded, looking at Grillby with a winning smile, “That’s the spirit!”

  
  


“we can, uh… go to my house,” Sans suggested, trying to sound as casual as he could and not as nervous as he actually was. “‘s pretty close from ‘ere, just past the docks.” 

 

“Sounds good to me,” Grillby agreed quickly. It was true his own home was right above the tavern, making him the closest option, though there was no way in hell he was letting either of them go up there. He was already going to be in enough trouble for leaving work soon enough.

  
  


“Then let’s go~” Hearth almost sang, getting up smoothly and turning to be behind his seat in one fluid motion, grabbing his gun on the way. While his other hand gently tugged at Sans’ hand, guiding him out of his seat. “Lead the way sugar skull~”

  
  


For a moment Sans simply stood there, Grillby having quickly followed the two monster’s up, ready for Sans to lead ahead, and the skeleton found himself lost and overwhelmed. But he tried his best to not let it show, instead nodding into the direction of the exit now, going ahead to lead them out.

 

“don’t make me wait for you,” Sans called after them, trying to be smooth. Though Grillby was quick to follow up, falling in step with the skeleton.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, you won’t.”

  
  


Hearth was already next to Sans, not having let go of Sans’ hand quite yet.


	2. he gets spit-ROASTED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: Explicit sexual content!**
> 
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> (that was fast)

The flames let the skeleton guide them out of the bar and into the open, following the skeleton into town. True to his word, Sans’ house wasn’t that far, but what did surprise Hearth was he owned a house in the more richer side of town, meaning Sans’ family must be packing. Huh.

 

“This it?” Hearth asked, his hand had traveled from Sans’ hand to his elbow, then his shoulder, to his back and now the skeleton’s ass. His movements slow and considerate, just in case Sans felt uncomfortable, which Hearth doubted, since the skeleton _did_ accept going home with two men.

  


Didn’t mean Sans wasn’t going to suck in a small surprised breath when he felt the hand feeling him over, eventually stopping it’s journey at Sans’ ass, definitely distracting him a lot.

 

“ah, uh… yea,” he uttered out eventually, struggling to find the key to the front door. “yea. my house.”  
  
Grillby watched the skeleton as he finally found the key, still fidgety though as he went to unlock the door, almost dropping it instead. It wasn’t hard to tell the skeleton was nervous, and Grillby couldn’t say he wasn’t either. Though Grillby had Hearth with him, he couldn’t say as much about Sans.

 

He put his own hand around Sans’ back, gently tracing his side as he talked lowly, quietly. “There’s no need to be nervous.”  
  
He didn’t get a reply back, though there was a small moment Sans seemed to pause, taking in the words. Before he finally managed to unlock the door, stepping inside with the two elementals to follow.

  


Hearth looked around the home, though he didn’t let his eyes wander too much, more focused on Sans and where he was going. The skeleton led them further into the house, and to a door, which led to a decently sized bedroom.

 

The taller flame smiled when the door closed behind them, before going behind Sans and hugging him from behind. “So…  you think you can handle us both?” He teased, letting his hot breath hit the skeleton’s neck, close enough for him to lick it. Yet he didn’t. Patience Hearth, patience.  

  


_No,_ was the first thought that crossed Sans, as he could practically feel himself getting weak at just the breath in his neck. But it’s not like he was planning to let them know, instead leaning into Hearth’s hold, stretching his neck a little to give the tall elemental more access.

 

“mh, wouldn’t you like to find that out yourself?” Sans hummed out, before a second flame joined them, sandwiching the skeleton between them.

 

Grillby placed his own hands on Sans’ sides, slowly running them up and down as he wouldn’t let himself hesitate. “I know I sure would,” he replied to the skeleton, getting a very curious hum back.

  


Hearth took this as his cue to continue, lapping up the smaller’s neck every few times, dropping small bites randomly in between, making Sans wonder when each unsuspecting bite will come next. “We got all night to see what you got, cutie~” Hands lowering, stopping right where his stomach would be, and the other continuing until it met it’s mark in between the femurs, up against the pelvis.

  


“ _yeah,_ ” Sans breathed out hotly, his small moans only interrupted when he felt the hand between his legs, letting out a surprised gasp. Which Grillby only took as an invitation, leaning in quickly, but gently, to catch Sans’ mouth in a kiss.

 

Grillby had managed to sneak one of his hands underneath Sans’ shirt, fingers trailing over the bones on his back, spine and where the ribs would connect to it. His other hand meanwhile was following Hearth’s lead, joining the other elemental’s hand between Sans’ legs. Though he was less as subtle, pushing Hearth’s hand rougher against Sans’ sensitive bone to get more sweet noises out of the overwhelmed skeleton.

  


Hearth smirked at Grillby’s forcefulness, but didn’t complain, instead using his fingers to get even a _bigger_ rise out of Sans. “Don’t worry baby, we’ll take good care of you.” He hummed, kissing Sans’ shoulder before biting down, slightly rougher than his previous bites. But wanting this mark to _stay_ for a while, to make Sans remember this day and shiver.

  


Oh and Sans shivered alright. Maybe a bit early, but he damn sure shivered between the two elementals, his moans and squeaks getting absorbed into the still lasting kiss with Grillby. Though they surely didn’t stop once the elemental pulled off it again, letting the skeleton catch his breath, while he did so himself.

 

“bed…?” Was the best Sans could breathe out in between the many touches, the bites and the slight movement of his own hips as he tried to rut against the elemental’s palm, having a hard time holding himself back.

  


Hearth hummed in agreement, moving his hands so he can pick Sans up, motioning with his head for Grillby to get onto the bed before them. Setting the skeleton down onto Grillby once the other fire monster was sitting on the bed. Hearth then started to unbutton his purple coat, the coat would be a hinderous to his movements, and rather uncomfortable. Sliding it off once the many buttons were undone, before rejoining with the other two.

  


Grillby had made good use of the time Hearth had been unbuttoning his coat, already kneeling over Sans, back bent to lean down in a kiss. His hand was buried underneath Sans’ shirt, feeling over the bones to find the spots that would give him the sweetest noises. And every time Grillby got one, he could feel his own dick straining against his pants a little more.

 

Grillby rolled off and to his side as to no longer keep Sans from the other elemental, though now that he wasn’t focused on kissing him anymore, he could also properly appreciate the already flushed face and hazy eyes the skeleton had.

  


Hearth unbuttons his pants before slinking over to the skeleton on the bed, hands going over to the other’s shorts. He looked at Sans’s face to see any complaint, when he found none, he pulled the shorts down, exposing the glowing pelvis and skeletal legs.

 

The flame whistled like he just won himself a prize, which to him, he did. “Well hello there beautiful~” He cooed, leaning down to bring Sans into a passionate kiss, soft but wanting.

  


Sans was easy to get drawn into it, hands reaching out for Hearth as soon as he got close, complying for the kiss almost greedily. He could feel a hand - smaller than Hearth’s so it could only be Grillby’s - gently massaging the magic collecting at Sans’ pelvis, causing the skeleton to moan loudly into the kiss.

 

“Mind forming something sweet for us?” Grillby cooed out questioningly, his hand letting off the magic to give him the space. Though really, all that _Sans_ wanted right now was for him to continue, a small whine escaping him.

 

But he did finally let his magic form, his dick already hard and proud and a hole just waiting for either of them.

  


Hearth groaned when his eyes laid sights on that puckered little hole. He pulled away to hover over Sans’ legs, flipping him around gently and guiding the skeleton to go on his hands and knees.

 

Now with the hole presented to him on a silver platter, Hearth’s hand glided over the boney leg before his finger started to tease and prod at the opening. “Hmmm, fffuucck! I’m going to fuck you so good tonight~” Hearth murmured, his grin getting wider at just the very thought of it.

 

Hoh boy he was going to have fun tonight.

  


They hadn’t even really started yet and Sans was already threatening to buckle on his knees. Though like hell did that stop him from pushing himself more into the teasing fingers, only presenting his ass even more to the elemental than he already had been doing.

 

But everything had felt so good today, from the nice words to the hot and teasing touches, and he could barely wait for something as hot to fill him up.

 

“pleaseee _do,_ ” he moaned out hazily. It was only then that he noticed Grillby next to them, dick already in hand, stroking it ever so slowly. Fuck there was no way Sans could take _both_ of them. So he made a small gesture for Grillby to come close, skeletal hands replacing the elemental’s own, and now it was Grillby’s time to let out a small surprised gasp.

  


Meanwhile Hearth wet his fingers with his mouth, before actually starting the process of stretching Sans out. One finger slipped in with not that much resistance, moving his fingers slowly to not pull or hurt Sans or his walls. Being reckless and forceful during _this_ process was really painful to the receiver, Hearth must use utmost care of how he does this.

 

Once the finger slipped in fully, he looked up at Sans for any discomfort, but only saw Sans enjoying himself while jack Grillby off. The sight made him smile.

 

Grillby’s first time. How sweet.

 

It was a little funny how he was here to witness Grillby’s first time getting laid, but he didn’t mind too much, he was also getting laid, and there was also a strange sense of pride. For his friend.

 

Hearth moved his finger fluidly, pressing around to get a reaction from the kneeing monster in front of him.

  


And he got what he wanted rather quickly. Sans’ movements had started stuttering the second he felt the wet finger inside of him, the feeling new and unused to, though very, _very_ welcome at the moment. Though as soon as Hearth started to move as well, he had the skeleton moaning, barely able to keep himself upright anymore. He let his arms let out underneath him, his upper body dropping to the mattress, while his butt was still presented to Hearth.

 

The skeleton was having a hard time focusing enough to keep his hands on Grillby, though as for now the elemental didn’t seem to mind too much, gently stroking over the weak skeleton’s skull. Until his hands got a little firmer, adjusting Sans’ position until his mouth was at Grillby’s dick.

 

“unf… fuck…”  
  
“This okay?” The elemental asked, though he didn’t even get an answer anymore, the skeleton’s tongue already lapping along the dick like his life depended on it.

  


Hearth shivered at the sight, quickly deciding that Sans was ready for the next finger. Pushing it in slowly, the second finger joined the first, before he started to do scissor motions slows, but firmly. Sans was tight, really tight, but Hearth could easily put enough power into his fingers so they wouldn’t falter from the tight ring.

 

While stretching his fingers inside the monster, he moved in and out in a slow pace, his other hand rubbing at Sans’ hip, both to be encouraging and also to give a nice warmth. “Fuck, you’re doing so great Sans, so good.” He cooed, placing a kiss onto the skeleton’s back.

  


Sans was whimpering against Grillby’s cock, trying to move with Hearth’s movements to get even more out of the friction. Fuck, Hearth was already stretching him so much, and he could tell it were only his fingers so far, this was only to prepare him for the real thing. The elemental hadn’t been exaggerating when he asked if Sans could really handle them both, honestly, he was surprised if he could even handle Hearth alone.

 

Though there was no way Sans was going to quit now. He was panting wantonly, barely even worried about the size of Hearth when really all he wanted was, “more… hah, please…?”

 

Grillby wasn’t exactly a lot better off either, really. Or maybe that was an unfair statement, as he clearly wasn’t the one panting for more as he was getting gently attacked from both ends. Though seeing the skeleton as much of a mess as he was right now, his head practically in Grillby’s lap, was definitely a lot to handle too, getting the elemental more riled up than he would’ve ever expected.

 

“We-... Mind if I put it in…?” Grillby asked slightly hesitantial. His dick was still right in front of the skeleton, his hazy eyes looking it up and down once his attention got drawn back to it. Though he gave Grillby a small nod, before opening his mouth and moving his head just enough to get the tip in. Though that was already enough to have the elemental let out a small, suppressed groan, hands quickly going back to stroking over Sans’ skull, keeping it in place gently.

  


Seeing that they were getting to the main event, Hearth added the last finger, his movements slightly faster yet still mindful, it would be no fun if Sans got hurt now and called it off. His goal to stretch Sans’ walls enough for his large load in a short amount of time. He pulled his fingers out soon after and rubbed them around his dick, using whatever he could at the moment to make it easier on the poor skeleton.

 

He added some of his spit to, lowering his pants a little more to have more wiggle room, evenly dividing his spit before going into position. “Okay, tell us when it’s to much, okay?” He said gently, before pressing slowly yet firmly to the abused puckered hole.

 

Hearth’s cock was bigger than Grillby’s by both length and width, which sometimes made it a little harder in starting off, having his own share of hurt partners because he wasn’t experienced or rushed at the time. Hearth had learned to avoid it with gentle slow preparations, but Sans was small, he would have to go even slower, more gentle.

  


Sans let out a squeak, already panting around the smaller of the two dicks inside him. And god, Sans didn’t think any kind or amount of preparation could’ve actually prepared him for the sheer size stretching him out right now, bringing tears to the corners of his eyes.

 

The fact that they were elementals probably didn’t make it any easier on him either, almost unbearable heat filling him up from both ends, both from them, but also from simply Sans himself. And call him a freak, but Sans could not pretend for a second he wasn’t absolutely into it.

 

“Are you- Do- Do we need a safeword or something…?” Grillby asked slightly nervously, not sure himself if he was asking Sans or Hearth.

  


Hearth shook his head, “No, he wouldn’t be able to say it with you in his mouth.” Hearth answered, before leaning in slightly to Sans, “If you want us to stop or we hurt you, pat me or Grillby a few times, okay? Don’t be afraid to let us know.” Hearth said the last part sternly, leaving no room for debate.

  


Sans gave him a teary eyed nod, though it was very questionable how much Sans actually caught up of that, being far too distracted of everything else going on, and it was only a matter of seconds until he tried to mutter something around the dick in his mouth.

 

“ _m’ve… pwe’se…_ ”

  


Hearth looked up to Grillby and gave him a nod, before moving into motion once again, pushing his dick even further inside the small skeleton, halfway inside Sans. “Alright, alright. Grillby, let’s give him a night to remember~” Hearth grinned, his hold on the little pelvis in front of him as strong as an iron grip.

  


Sans let out another small whimper, almost like a scared animal, though god he was so excited.

  
Grillby gave Hearth a much more confident nod than he actually felt, before glancing down at Sans, hands stroking over the side of his skull gently. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

 

“ _jush’ m’ve,_ ” Sans whined out, like he could barely stand the way they were both waiting for his ‘go ahead.’ Though that was enough for Grillby, the elemental giving him a small nod himself, whispering a brief, “alright…,” to himself before he started moving his hips, shoving his dick deeper into the skeleton’s mouth.

 

The skeleton must’ve formed a throat at one point, though Sans must still not exactly have a gag reflex, as there was no point where Sans seemed to struggle or try to stop him until Grillby hilted completely. And the image of that - of Sans looking up at him with hazy, teary eyes, dick completely in his mouth - was enough to let a shiver run down Grillby’s back, the elemental letting out a low groan.

 

“Fffuck, you’re so good,” he breathed out, rolling his hips just enough to pull out halfway again, before he thrusted back in. Not roughly, but a little faster than the first time.

  


Hearth wasn’t that far off, hilting his dick as far as the puckered hole will allow, then started rolling his hips, stretching Sans out just a little bit more, to make it easier on the poor dude by a long shot.

 

But he didn’t keep at it for that long, instead pulling out halfways before pushing right back in, forming a nice good pace for himself. Hearth groaned like he was in pure bliss, the feeling of those walls squeezing his large dick, too much for this hole to handle. But damn, doesn’t mean Sans isn’t willing despite that.

 

The thought alone just makes him want to cum here and there.

 

His grip held the limp ass up, the skeleton’s legs lost all it’s strength long ago, driving himself into Sans’ like it could save a life. Maybe his, because, oh boy, would he die if this was taken away from him.

 

Who knew skeleton’s could give some good ass. Huh.

  


Fuck, he was so hot. Sans was feeling so incredibly hot, getting penetrated from two ends mercilessly. He could barely think anymore, his body almost already completely limp, in a state of pure bliss.

 

Grillby has started upping his speed as well, thrusting into Sans’ throat a bit faster as the skeleton didn’t seem to mind at all. Drool was coating his dick, was dripping down Sans’ mouth, soiling the bed sheets. Poor Sans, those sheets were probably going to be a mess once they were done with him. _Sans_ was gonna be a mess once they were done with him.

  


Grillby wasn’t the only one who picked up the pace, Hearth started to slam his dick into the poor abused hole, keep the pelvis right there in place to take all the blissful abuse. Hearth’s body was starting to get weak with how close he was starting to get, but he held strong. This was heaven, he wasn’t going to give it up just yet, not yet, just a little bit longer, please only just a little bit more.

 

Damn, how tight is this skeleton? It’s like he was losing himself to this body, his own shutting down and ready to explode.

  


It was good Sans’ family wasn’t home. And that he had such a strong built house, keeping noise inside as much as it could. Because Sans was _loud._ He was whimpering, moaning, practically screaming with every thrust, his voice barely able to keep up with both of the elementals.

 

“You’re so hot,” Grillby breathed out, hands constantly switching between holding Sans’ skull tight to pound it, and stroking over it gently. “So cute. So- ... _good. Fffuck._ ”  


He was close already, bending down so his own face was hovering right over Sans’ skull, peppering it with small kisses. Fuck, he was _so damn close_. His movements got quicker, smaller but rougher as he started chasing his orgasms. And the faster movement only made Sans squeal and moan even more, the delicious noises feeling so good around his dick.

 

His hold tightened on Sans’ skull, tight enough that the burning of his hands started to leave scorch marks. Though the skeleton didn’t complain, bliss too distracting for him to even realize. What he _did_ realize was the searing cum shooting down his throat as Grillby finally came with a grunt, dick hilted and flames growing untamed, the boiling heat that suddenly began filling Sans’ all over causing the skeleton to widen his eyes, hands tightening around the bed sheets.

  


That reaction caused his puckered hole to clamp down on Hearth’s aching dick, forcing Hearth to let go and also cum inside the skeleton. The flame let out a soundless gasp, his hands forcing the hips to snap on the remainder of his dick he previously didn’t force Sans to take. Groaning in pure bliss at how tight and amazing oh so beautiful it was.

 

_Yes. Really beautiful._

  


And that was the point everything was too much for him, the skeleton crying out in both pleasure and shock and _bliss_ as he came harder than he’s ever had. Sans felt like he was on fire himself, hot fluids filling him up from both ends, and even as Grillby’s own flames started to calm down again, the elemental panting heavily, Sans didn’t feel a tad cooler.

 

And god, he could not tell if the heat was as unbearable as it felt, or something Sans craved more than he had ever craved a thing, but the tears running down his face felt like they were tears of bliss rather than pain.

 

Grillby pulled out of Sans’ mouth gently, the skeleton coughing up the tiniest bits of molten cum once he did so.

 

“...How are you feeling…?” The elemental asked carefully, hands once more running over the others face gently. Though the only reply he got was a tired groan. The lack of words scaring Grillby, he looked up at Hearth worried, not sure what to do - _if_ he should do something.

  


Hearth was pulling out as well when he had gotten the look, giving a quick glance to Sans to check for himself if they got to far. But seeing the blissful look on Sans’ face, he looked at Grillby and smiled at him while shaking his head. “It’s alright, he’s just tired.”

 

The bigger flame flipped Sans over gently, rest the skeleton’s head on one of the pillows, brushing the bony cheek affectionately before pulling away.

 

This was always the hard part. Should they stay and sleep for the night, or leave? It was all up to Sans, since it _was_ his house. “Do you want us to stay, or go?” Hearth whispered.

  


At first Sans only let out another groan, wanting nothing more but to just sleep. But - even with the still hot cum filling him up - as soon as the elementals weren’t all over him anymore he almost felt cold. Alone.

 

“...stay,” he muttered out, the word slightly slurred and very quiet, both out of exhaustion, but also maybe embarrassment that he wanted two strangers to stay because he’d feel lonely.

 

But Grillby didn’t seem to mind at all, the flame giving him a soft hum as he looked for a blanket for them. Hoh boy. He was going to be in lot of trouble once he got back to the tavern tomorrow. Though he was also going to if he’d come back now, so… staying here was really preferable to the elemental right now.

  


Hearth grabbed Sans gently, since the bed wasn’t big enough for all three, Hearth laid down with Sans on his chest, cradled in his arms. He turned to his side slightly so Grillby would have more room, the bed might not be big enough for three people, but two elementals it was manageable

 

“Good night sugar skull~.” Hearth slurred, giving both Grillby and Sans a warm smile before closing his eyes.

 

-

 

Grillby was the first one to wake up. And it was a rough awakening, panicked at first that he had overslept for his work at the tavern. He sat up hastily, eyes wide, pulling the blanket with him, only to realize  _ this wasn’t his bed. _ This wasn’t his home.    
  
He remembered now what had happened. That Hearth and him had gone off for a good night with some cute skeleton guy. Some cute skeleton guy that was still, despite Grillby’s own panicked wake-up, still sound asleep in Hearth’s arms.

 

Hoh boy. Well, he  _ was _ late for work, though really, with as much trouble he was going to be in already, being late was not going to make a difference anymore.

 

Carefully Grillby got out of the bed. He had straight up fallen asleep with his clothes on, though his pants were pulled down and open. He fixed those up quickly, straightening the rest of his messy clothes a little to at least look representable enough to show himself outside, before looking through the room for his shoes.

 

Though he hesitated once he found them, once he was ready. Should he just… leave? Grillby felt awkward staying, in this stranger’s house, the only one being awake. Though he also just felt awkward  _ leaving _ them, especially since one of the people he  _ would _ be leaving would be his best friend.

 

He went up to the bed again, one hand carefully on the other elemental as he shook him slightly. “Hey… Hearth.”

  
  


“Hmmm?” Hearth muttered, rolling to his side to take up the space Grillby once took up, letting go of Sans to claim his old spot. “Huz wasit?” He grumbled, obviously still drowning in sleep.

  
  


“Wha… Hearth, it’s… uhm. I need to leave,” Grillby muttered out quietly. He peeked a glance out the window, before looking back at the elemental. “We slept in pretty late, you might want to get up, too.” 

  
  


Hearth relaxed back into bed, muttering something that was most likely nothing, before he bolted up and looked at the window, panicked. “Shit, I had to do my rounds!” He scrambled out of bed and hazardly put his coat back on and pants back up. He took a moment to neatly straighten his clothes to look professional, then look up at Grillby. 

 

“Thanks Grillby, what would I be without you?” He laughed sheepishly. But his gaze went to the small cute skeleton laying on the bed. “Do you think I should make him breakfast before we leave?” It always felt a little wrong to leave people without saying so, the least he could do was leave them something nice.

  
  


Grillby hesitated, glancing back at the skeleton, that had somehow managed to sleep through all of this, as well. Simply leaving him  _ did _ feel kind of wrong, though so did using a stranger’s kitchen…

  
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “You’re the expert on this… Though we did mess him up pretty bad. He might appreciate it.”

  
  


“I’m going to make him something.” Hearth decided, marching off to the kitchen to see what he is able to work with.

 

It didn’t take long, he found some bread that he cut in half midway, opening it up to put some melted cheese and slices of meat, he made sure to use butter when baking the bread slightly. Making the bread have a nice golden look to it while also having a rich flavor. He found some lettuce and fashioned it nicely on the sides.

 

There, it didn’t even take him that long at all. He brought it to the small table next to the bed, and set it down. Hearth grabbed a blank piece of paper and a ink feather before writing down.

 

‘ _ Had a lovely time with you last night, we have work so we are sorry if you were expecting us here when you wake. But I made you a sandwich to get your energy up with the way we treated you last night.  _

 

_ Hope this letter finds you well! _

 

_ Hearth and Grillby’ _

 

Hearth placed the letter down next to the sandwich, before heading out with Grillby.


	3. im like, your biggest fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: extreme gore**

This was far from the first time Gaster had been on a ship for the king, though it never quite stopped being exciting. Being the king’s royal inventor meant that he was often sent overseas for studies, materials or simply sharing his work with the rest of the kingdom. And sometimes simply to travel, to see new things for Gaster to get inspired. The king could never turn down a request from Gaster to travel, always providing him with a ship of the royal navy and a loyal crew, always letting Gaster take his sons with him - though the oldest seemed to have grown out of his age to want to join him on his journeys.

 

Gaster was not a sailor. And he was even further from a captain. If he’d be alone on a ship, he’d most likely be a dead man. Well, maybe not entirely, but he was definitely no professional. But the royal navy very quickly had proven themselves to be of the best men, providing the royal inventor’s family with everything they needed, ensuring their safety.

 

There had been a time where journey’s like this scared Gaster. Where he thought every sign of a storm would be their end and the ocean would be filled with pirates or enemy ships only waiting to attack.Though he soon learned that the royal navy knew what they were doing and that most pirate ships - if they encountered any - would rather stray away from them.

 

Emphasize on most.

 

And maybe Gaster found more comfort in that than he should have.

 

“Captain!” A voice rang out over Gaster’s head, one of their crew’s men running past him and Papyrus towards the monster that was their captain. “We spotted a smaller ship, seems to be pirates.”   
  
“PIRATES???” Papyrus chirped out excitedly, already running towards the captain, who was taking the eyeglass handed to him by the other monster. “WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE???”   
  
“Small ship,” the captain muttered to himself, though Papyrus was listening intently. “Dark wood. Black sails. They’re fast, but they’re heading into the opposite direction.”   
  
“LET ME SEE! PLEASE???” Papyrus begged, the captain tossing him the eyeglass casually.

  
“I don’t think they’ll be any trouble, but tell everyone to be in the lookout. If they seem to be getting closer-”   
  
“WE SHOULD LEAVE.”   
  
“What?” The captain asked, almost sounding slightly offended to be just interrupted like that, but also have a child suggest  _ him _ what they should do.   
  
“WE SHOULD LEAVE WHILE THEY’RE STILL THIS FAR AWAY,” Papyrus simply kept going, though. “IF WE ABANDON THE SHIP AND TAKE THE BOATS-”

 

“Papyrus, what are you talking about?” Gaster interrupted him softly. He’d been standing back, knowing the captain knew how to handle the situation - and Papyrus - though he hadn’t expected his son to say something like  _ that. _

 

Papyrus wanting to take a peek at passing by ships was no news - he loved to study both famous, large ships, as well as infamous, feared pirates, though  _ seeing _ them was usually enough for the skeleton.

 

“THEY MIGHT NOT SEE US, YET! IF WE LEAVE INTO THE OTHER DIRECTION AND LEAVE THE BOAT HERE AS BAIT, WE MIGHT GET AWAY!”

 

“Papyrus, you know the captain can handle this,” Gaster tried, unsure why his son was acting like this all of the sudden. But Papyrus was having none of it.

 

“NOT THE  _ REAPER BROTHERS! _ ” He argued, the name ringing something in everyone’s mind. The captain shook his head disapprovingly.

 

“Don’t be stupid, child,” he chided the young skeleton. “If those were the reaper brother’s, they would’ve already attacked us. They’re some lowlife pirates that don’t want to get into any trouble.”   
  
“BUT-”   
  
“Don’t worry, Pappy, the captain knows what he is doing,” Gaster assured him gently. “Just let him handle this.”

  
  


A boom was heard before there was a crash, a cannon ball zoomed over the ship, thankfully it didn’t hit the actual boat, but it hit the sail. Knocking it out and slowly making it tip like a cut down tree, hitting a few of the unlucky crew members that were in the way.

 

The ship had knocked the sail out.

 

They were trapped.

 

Panic among the crew broke loose, everyone scrambling to try and figure a way to defend themselves without a sail to direct them anywhere anymore. The dark goulish ship turned it’s sail to go straight for theirs, gaining speed quickly.

  
  


“Everyone, stay calm!” The captain called out over the panic on his ship. “Draw your weapons! Ready the cannons!”   
  
He went on to instruct his crew, a few men trying to see if there was any way to repair or replace the sail, while others went ahead to try to shoot the attacking ship down.

 

“WE NEED TO LEAVE!” Papyrus cried out, though his words went unheard to most of them, Gaster taking the young skeleton and dragging him into the ship, trying to get out of the way of any fighting, the noise fading more the deeper they hid inside. But  _ hiding _ wasn’t what was going to save them, and Papyrus  _ knew. _

 

“WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT!” Papyrus told Gaster, his voice slightly panicked, slightly frustrated. “THEY CAN’T FIGHT THEM!”   
  
“Pappy, it’s going to be okay,” Gaster hushed his son. “We’re going to be fine. The royal navy can handle this.” Though there was obvious fear in his own voice. If what Papyrus had said  _ was _ true, there… was little chance they would survive.

 

Only few lived to tell the tale of the reaper brothers, and those only did because the pirates  _ wanted _ them to live,  _ wanted _ them to spread the word, wanted to strike fear and terror into everyone that got to hear it.

  
“We’re going to be okay,” Gaster repeated, the words hushed and quiet and almost meant more to himself than to Papyrus. “Everything’s going to be alright.” 

 

They should have left when they still had a chance to.

  
  


There were none stop screaming and feet pounding on the wood above them for what seemed like hours, then piercing evil laughter rang. The longer they sat there, more and more foot pounding start to stop dead, like the crew was being killed one by one.

 

Then silence.

 

Before a man threw open the door and scrambled down the steps, spotting the two skeletons. He had a wide gash on his stomach, his intestines would be on the floor if he wasn’t cradling them and holding them to his stomach to try and preserve them.

 

He fell forward, blood spilling from his mouth, almost choking on it as he tried to tell them to run.

 

“ehehehehehehe~” A chill voice giggled behind them, it was quiet, as soft footsteps slowly went down the stairs. It was a small monster, maybe a inch or two shorter than Gaster’s eldest son. He had a long black coat, that dragged on the ground with the trims made of fluff, covering his eyes and almost his nose hole. 

 

He was a skeleton.

 

“well ‘ello d’ere~” He grinned, his bone scythe shining from the little sun that came through the small circle window. He stared down at the two skeletons with nothing but evil intent. “‘re ya da ro’al ‘venter?”

  
  


There was panic, absolute terror inside of Gaster. He’s seen that monster, that evil grin, the way the hood covered his eyes. On wanted posters. In history books. And now standing before him.

 

He was a dead man, there was no doubt the rest of their crew already were, too. He should’ve  _ listened _ to Papyrus, should’ve trusted his son when he told them who’s ship it was they had spotted, should’ve just  _ left _ and now Papyrus was going to die, because no one had listened to him.

 

No. No, he had to do  _ something. _

 

“I… I am,” Gaster finally spoke out, trying to make his voice sound firm, trying to look confident, though he was clearly terrified, shaking in fear as he moved his body between the attacker and his son. “W.D. Gaster, royal inventor, under the protection of king Asgore himself. So I’d advise you to leave, before the king finds out we’re missing. He… He will  _ not _ let you get away with that!”

  
  


“not da f’rst time i got on ‘is naughty list.” The reaper brother giggled, his scythe was long and white, with what looked like a dragon skull at the top, a long curved blade coming from the creature’s maw. It bounced lightly while the pirate laughed.

 

Moving his scythe so the back of the creature’s head hits Gaster’s side, throwing him to the left and giving the monster full access to the small skeleton before him. The scythe moved again, but this time the spikes of the creature’s head hooked to the shirt, pulling Papyrus close to the pirate.

 

“‘ow ‘bout dis? ‘m death, from da reaper bra’ders, ‘nder da protection of dis poor soul dat will die if ya don’ do wha i say. so i’d advise ya ta follow orders.” The small skeleton imitated Gaster’s voice as best he could with the accent hindering the imitation, yet it still dripped with a mocking tone. Papyrus was thrown to the floor in front of Death, the bottom his his boot landing on the poor skeleton’s head to keep Papyrus down. Scythe maneuvered to cut the young skeleton’s throat with a single movement, hovering over the prone form like a predator ready to kill it’s prey.

 

There was one pair of footsteps walking around the deck above them, but Death paid them no mind. Must be his brother…

  
  


Papyrus was silent for the most part, aside from the surprised screeches he’s let out when his dad was thrown away and when he himself got thrown to the ground. His body was stiff, his eyes wide, but Papyrus didn’t struggle.

 

He knew very well that if he did, he wouldn’t stand a chance either way, so for the moment - if there was even the slightest hope for survival - his best shot would probably be cooperating and seeing where things go.

 

Gaster seemed less assured of that plan, though really, what other choice did he have? He was no fighter, always been under the protection of anyone else, and now the one monster that had been under  _ his _ protection was practically held at gunpoint.   
  
“ _ Don’t _ ,” he cried out panicked. “ _ Please. _ I’ll do whatever you want, ju- just don’t hurt my son,  _ please! _ ”

  
  


“son?” Death almost purred, looking down at the skeleton under his feet, grinning at him like the devil. At that moment another skeleton climbed down the steps, this one much taller with a blood red scarf covering his mouth, eyes hard and intimidating. 

 

“WELL HELLO BROTHER, DID YOU FIND HIM?” He asked, looking around cheerfully like he didn’t just walk into a man dead on the floor and a monster threatening two more. In fact he grabbed rope laying next to a floaty, going over to Gaster first.

 

Death bent down to grab the hem of Papyrus’ shirt, removing the scythe and tugging upwards. He muttered a quiet “get up.” before looking at his brother. “found ‘is son too, wha we gonna do with da extra cargo?”

 

“HMMM…” The other said in thought, pushing Gaster roughly to face the other way, before going ahead to tie the wrist together, then around Gaster’s body, over the arms. “OVERBOARD, MAYBE?”

  
  


“No!” Gaster choked out shocked, trying to turn around to his son again, though with the way he was tied up it was very hard to move. “You said you  _ wouldn’t! _ ”

 

Papyrus suppressed a small squeak, mostly because the more Gaster spoke the more he worried the reaper brothers would just get sick of them. He knew his dad was scared, but really, what was he hoping to get out of this?

 

Papyrus opened his mouth, trying to somehow say something to save them, but was left dry. He didn’t know either. He hadn’t  _ thought _ they’d live this long.

 

“THAT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE YOUR STYLE???” Was what came out instead, with no thought process behind it and just genuine thoughts that got set free as soon as he activated the speakers. “I HAD THOUGHT YOU’D PUT ME ON A STAKE OR SOMETHING! AS A THREAT??? I AM THE ROYAL INVENTORS SON, AFTER ALL! IF YOU’D THROW ME OVERBOARD I’D JUST BE A LOST MONSTER…”

 

“ _ Papyrus!? _ ” Gaster gasped out at what he just had to hear.

  
  


“OH~?” Death’s brother hummed, intrigued. “NOT OUR STYLE? HMMM, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THAT, YOU SURE?” It was clear he was teasing, mocking. More into the response the young monster would give.

 

This never happened before.

 

“wha, ya know us now? ex’pert?” Death raised a bone brow, tying the knot for Papyrus’ restraints. 

  
  


“NOT AS MUCH AS I’D LIKE TO!” Papyrus replied in genuine curiosity. “THERE’S NOT A LOT INFORMATION TO FIND ABOUT YOU, EXCEPT FROM YOUR DEADLINESS AND THE GRUESOME DISPLAYS PEOPLE TEND TO FIND ON THE SHIPS YOU ATTACKED! I DO SUPPOSE I DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW IF YOU THROW SOME PASSENGERS OVERBOARD, HMM…”

 

Gaster could not believe what he was hearing. He was easily in Papyrus place now, feeling every hope thin out with every word the younger skeleton let out. Was his son not scared  _ at all? _

 

“I- I’m sorry about my son,” Gaster uttered out, his eyes wide and voice pleading. “He- He’s just fascinated by pirates, I- ...I don’t know what’s-...” He didn’t know what’s gotten  _ into _ Papyrus.

  
  


Death’s bone brow raised higher, confusion flashed on the smile of his, or maybe it was uncertainty. “bro?” He looked to his brother, only to see those eyes light up behind that unamused facade. 

 

“YOU SOUND LIKE A FANBOY WITH THE WAY YOU ARE SPEAKING. HOW MUCH  _ DO  _ YOU KNOW ABOUT US?” Even if this kid isn’t what he cracks up to be, they could still take the information and put it to good use. See what they say about them, and maybe a few fears they can take inspiration from. Scared people think up very creative things, and what’s better than taking them and bumping up the fear they already enjoy striking into their victims. 

  
  


“HMM, WHERE DO I BEGIN…” Papyrus mused out, thinking over the multitudes of books the reaper brothers had been mentioned in. “WELL, I’VE SEEN A LOT OF SKETCHES OF YOUR SHIP, OFTEN VARYING IN DETAILS, BUT THEY ALL AGREED ON THAT IT WAS VERY DARK AND SMALLER THAN MOST SHIPS.”

 

_ That’s _ how Papyrus knew immediately who they were not being faced by them yet, Gaster realized with a sharp intake of breath.

 

“IT SOUNDS A LOT LIKE YOU AVOID DIRECT APPROACH AND LOOK FOR SOME KIND OF BLIND SPOT, TRY TO GET ONTO THE SHIP WHEN IT’S TOO LATE FOR THEM TO REACT.” If he wouldn’t be tied up already he’d have a hand on his chin probably, jogging his brain on what he had learned about the reaper brothers, what he knew about them. “THAT’S WHY I THOUGHT WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE BOAT AS SOON AS WE SAW YOU - IN HOPE YOU’D STILL GO AFTER THE BOAT AND NOT NOTICE US?”

 

“ _ Papyrus! _ ”   
  
“I DON’T KNOW IF IT WOULD HAVE WORKED, BUT NOT DOING SO VERY APPARENTLY HASN’T!” Though there was not actually a grain of salt in his voice, at this point he was just stating facts. “I KNOW THAT YOU’RE PRACTICALLY UNBEATABLE! THOUGH ASIDE FROM THE SCYTHES, I DON’T KNOW A LOT ABOUT YOUR FIGHTING STYLE, MOST REPORTS JUST FOCUS ON HOW GRUESOME IT WAS… OH! AND APPARENTLY NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN REAPER’S MOUTH  _ OR _ DEATH’S EYES!” The young skeleton looked up now at the two pirates in curiosity, only to get his thought confirmed. They both had their respective parts covered up, though neither seemed to see the cloth covering them as a kind of hindrance.

  
  


“OH! I… YOU NOTICED!” Reaper gasped, while Death gave a impressed whistle next to him, the taller squatting down slightly to be on Papyrus’ height. “THAT IS QUITE THE IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF FACTS YOU HAVE OF US!”

 

Death slinked his way beside Gaster, leaning in slightly to whisper, “wha is wrong with yer kid?” He might be slightly spooked at how much a  _ little kid  _ knew about them, but he got to admit, not many kids would willingly want to search up on them. They were that fairy tale parents tell their kids so they behave, but this one  _ likes  _ to read up on things like this.

 

But Death could see it, Reaper was intrigued, he was lit up and asking Papyrus if there was anything else. Oh boy, he was going to show off what they did on the deck wasn’t he? Well they were going to pass by the new decor anyways so there isn’t much Death could complain about.

  
  


Gaster let out a noise, something like a whimper, but more croaky, like a dying animal. What  _ was _ wrong with his son? He sounded like he was having a regular conversation, excitement unhidden in his voice when he got to gush about his obsession of knowledge. Yet he wasn’t just talking  _ to _ their attackers, but  _ about _ them, and about  _ how _ deadly and  _ how _ gruesome they were, how was Papyrus  _ not scared!? _

 

“OH, IT’S NOTHING, REALLY!!!” Papyrus brushed it off, though he did feel flattered to get noticed for how much he knew, let alone by the pirates he was gushing about themselves. “THERE WERE STILL SOME BOOKS I WANTED TO GET MY HANDS ON TO LEARN SOME MORE. THOUGH I NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE YOU IN PERSON! NOR  _ WANTED  _ TO! BUT HERE WE ARE!!!” His tone kept as cheery as ever, not letting anything pull him down. “YOU’RE NOT AS SCARY LOOKING AS MOST OF THE SKETCHES I SAW, THOUGH YOU’RE JUST AS DEADLY!”

  
  


Death huffed at the last comment, but started to lead Gaster upstairs, Reaper following up with Papyrus right in front of him. “WOWIE! WELL, YOU WILL SEE OUR LATEST WORK IN A SECOND! I AM VERY PROUD OF THIS ONE!” Reaper cheered, guiding Papyrus out the door and onto the deck.

 

And he wasn’t kidding, the whole deck was decorated in guts and blood, intestines hanging around like decorations, blood smeared to look like blooded hands, even the captain’s wheel and where the sail used to be wasn’t spared.

 

“festive.” Death complimented, nodding in approval, handing Gaster off to Reaper before going back down to get anything worth their time. 

 

“I KNOW RIGHT!” Reaper said to his brother before he disappeared, excited and proud of his work. He turned to Papyrus, grinning. “IS THIS WHAT YOU SAW IN THE DRAWINGS OF OUR WORK?”

  
  


Unlike Papyrus, Gaster has not done his pirate homework. He was a man of science, not of studying other ships that didn’t concern him. So what he saw came to him as a complete surprise, striking fear - no, terror - inside of him. There wasn’t anything he could say, nothing, his eyes just trailed over the display of guts and blood of what used to be the crew meant to protect him. Had  _ any _ of them survived?

 

He didn’t even want to think about it, couldn’t, as the sight of everything up here was enough to make him heave, throw up whatever waste magic he had inside of him.

 

Papyrus was… well. He had expected this. Though that didn’t prepare him for the actual sight in the least, and his eyes watered at the sight of…  _ everything _ .

  
“IT’S… WORSE,” Papyrus muttered out quietly, answering Reaper’s question more on instinct rather than anything else. But it was true. The drawings had been gruesome, disgusting, horrifying. But this, seeing the actual thing. Seeing the guts and blood and intestines of men and women he had talked to just less than an hour ago. The stench of death and blood, so thick you couldn’t even smell the ocean anymore.

 

It was nothing you could imagine if you haven’t seen it yourself, not in your worst nightmares.

  
  


“NHEH HEH HEH! I KNOW RIGHT, IT’S JUST BREATHTAKING!” He giggled, pushing both skeleton’s to the end of the boat, pushing them down until they fell on the Reaper brother’s deck. It looked just as goulish and dark as it was far away, a eerie vibe hung over this ship.

 

“d’ere is stuff i put near da door ‘nder da deck, go get it power loader.” Death muttered, jumping from the deck to his own, right next to the other skeletons. 

 

“ALRIGHT BROTHER!” And just like that, Reaper disappeared from the edge of the boat.

 

Death turned to the other two on his ship, his scythe mysteriously gone, yet there were two small guns on each side of his belt, with two mini scythes with a chain connecting them on his butt, hidden from the long coat he had over. “dis is ‘ow it’ gonna go down. we sent someone back al’eady, we gonna get good money off ya.” Death said, pointing to Gaster.

 

“‘nd we don’ know wha ta do with  _ ya  _ yet, maybe keep ya.” Death smirked, there was nothing good about that smirk when he said the last part, looking at Papyrus like he was his prey.

 

  
“OH…?” Papyrus uttered out, his voice smaller than before. It wasn’t like the reaper brothers - from what he  _ knew _ about them at least - to just  _ keep _ one of their victims. A hostage kept for ransom? Maybe. But just like that…

 

It was an unexpected move and Papyrus did  _ not _ know what that would mean. What they were planning with him. But whatever it was, the thought seemed to absolutely terrify Gaster.

 

“He’s just a  _ child, _ ” he practically sobbed out. “Please, ju- just… let him go! You can keep me, you can- I- I’ll give you everything I have, my money, anything, just- j-just let my son go!”

  
  


“ya know,” Death said, pushing Gaster to the ground, back hitting the sail’s trunk. “‘ave ya ‘eard da sayin’, ‘ya don’ know wha ya ‘ave til ya lose it’? well… guess ya should've listened to yer boy then, huh?” Death said solemnly, hooking the rope around Gaster to some chains on the sail, before turning, grabbing onto Papyrus, and heading to the small door that led to the lower deck.

  
  


“No-!  _ Please! _ ” Gaster cried out after them. “ _ Papyrus! _ ”   
  
The younger skeleton did not answer him. What should he say? Cry for help? Gaster couldn’t help him. Tell him things were going to be okay? They  _ weren’t. _ Papyrus was being separated from his father, tied up as a captive and had  _ no _ idea what they were planning to do to him.

 

He stayed quiet, scared and confused and maybe -  _ maybe - _ just the tiniest bit curious about what was going to happen. 

  
  


Death led him under the dock, into a small counters, pushing him until he fell on some blankets in the corner. Death squatted to chain Papyrus to the wall, leaving the rope around him as well. “be’ave ‘nd we won’ cut yer pop’s limbs off, got it?” Death threaten, already hearing the banging on cargo being moved onto the ship. 

 

“or if ya want, don’ ‘nd we rip one of ‘is ribs off, keep ya company.” Death smirked, looking at Papyrus’ face even though the hood covered his eyes. It still looked like he could see just fine oddly enough.

  
  


The words did ring fear into him, throat clamming up at the idea. Papyrus tried not to let it falter him, not to make it too obvious, but his voice was still quieter, more hesitant when he croaked out the words, “That won’t be necessary…”

 

He hadn’t  _ intended _ on rebelling in the first place, not when he was in captivity of the two most deadliest pirates, but hearing that his father’s health was at stake if he didn’t sure brought the point to his soul once more.

  
  


Death nodded, getting up and walking back up the stairs, ducking under his brother’s arms, who was carrying a crate down slowly.

 

Death went straight to Gaster, delivering the same threat he made to Papyrus to make sure there is no funny business on his ship. “or when ya do go after all dis, maybe we should rip a rib or a finger out fer a reminder~ from yer son ta ya! ‘ow sweet of em!”

  
  


“Please,” Gaster sobbed out, his own voice quiet, exhausted. He’s been crying after his son since Death separated them, his eyesockets stung from the tears and his throat hurt from the screaming, but nothing was as bad as the terrifying fear, not knowing what they were doing to Papyrus if he was okay.

 

“Don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you want, just… don’t… hurt him…”

  
  


“OH I DON’T THINK WE WILL, IN FACT, I WANT TO KEEP HIM AS A PET!” Reaper called from the door, heading over to the crates he got from the other ship. He had cut the ties from the other ship, letting it drift along while Reaper steered away from the crime scene. There was a lock on the wheel from keeping it from turning to a new direction.

 

“I LIKE HIM, HE’S NEAT.” Death just looked at his brother a little baffled, but otherwise didn’t complain or say anything besides a little “sure.” Like hell he would question his brother’s choices, but he won’t stop himself for asking  _ why  _ when they are alone.

 

“guess we ‘re.” Death gave in.

 

“DON’T WORRY INVENTOR MAN, WE WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM!” Reaper chirped, which made Death snort. Who knew that Reaper mustn't look that reassuring given who he is and being covered by blood.

  
  


And it wasn’t, at all. Gaster was far from as foolish as to belief that his ideas of ‘good care’ would align very well with the pirates’ and countless of pictures ran through Gaster’s skull of what they might do to his son, how they would abuse him, use him, break him.

 

“I’m so sorry…” He sobbed out to neither of the pirates. He should’ve just listened to his son. Papyrus didn’t deserve to be in this situation.


	4. glad to know you care about your dad too, sans...

The letter did not find Sans well.

 

In fact Sans woke up only a bit after the elementals left, the sudden change of temperature rousing him slowly. He couldn’t tell himself how he woke up, not remembering the last night yet. Though the soreness all over his body when he moved to get up was a sure well reminder.

 

Sans let out an agonized groan, moving to the edge of his bed until he spotted the breakfast and the note. It was only then that he really registered he woke up with two monsters less than he fell asleep with. Not that he was exactly surprised.

 

Though he still felt oddly… warm when he read the note. When he thought about how sweet they - or at least Hearth - had been for a one-night hook-up. 

 

No. Nah. Fuck that.

 

They left him alone feeling like he’d been in a fight with a bear the day before, like his ass got mauled by a damn killer whale. Sans took the note, crumbled it into a ball and tossed it to the wall.

 

“jerks,” he grumbled out grumpily, forcing himself off the bed and grabbing the breakfast Hearth had prepared him. Well. At least the food was good. That as the least they could’ve done for him.

 

He found his underwear somewhere on the ground, putting that on lazily, before heading to the front door. It was already pretty late in the day, so they must’ve left some medieval newspaper at their door at some point, and Sans knew his dad was going to be a whiny little baby if Sans was just going to let it pile up outside.

 

So he stepped outside, picking up the daily newspaper, not expecting to see one of the royal navy men running by their house. Let alone looking as beat up and scarred as he was.   
  
It didn’t take long for Sans to put one and one together. He  _ knew _ this was one of the men that left with his dad. Which could only mean one thing.

 

“ _ hey! _ ” Sans called out to stop the man, before limping over to them. “what the fuck happened?  _ where’s my family!? _ ” There was a clear bite in his voice, anger, like it was  _ this _ guy’s fault that whatever happened happened. Though he didn’t care the least in the moment, all he cared about was what the man told him. Words stuttered and eyes big and frightened, terrified and scarred for life.

 

Told him about how they got ambushed, got attacked by two monsters alone. How they striked them down one by one, tearing them apart in most gruesome ways. He told him they kept Gaster for ransom, told him they sent him off to tell the king.

  
“where’s  _ papyrus!? _ ” Sans screeched out, his hands feeling clammy and his throat tight.

 

“I… I- I don’t know?” The man stuttered out. “I don’t k-know! I’m sorry, I-! T-They-!”

 

_ Attacked the ship. Kept Gaster for ransom. Murdered every one of their crew. _ Papyrus was on that ship. Papyrus had  _ been _ there. Papyrus was either dead or going to be if  _ no one _ came to save him.

 

The man was still stuttering out something incomprehensible, but Sans didn’t care anymore. He ran - or rather limped - as fast as he could to the docks, leaving everything behind. He didn’t  _ care _ if he was being foolish, if he was unprepared and didn’t know what he was doing. If he would wait long enough to prepare and figure out what to do, Papyrus might just be  _ dead _ by the time he’d arrive.

 

So all Sans thought of was get on one of the boats and follow where he knew his dad had been headed, when he ran past everyone and anyone that saw him in town.

  
  


Two of which were the ones he screwed last night.

 

Hearth was in the middle of asking Grillby how it went when he came back to the tavern, Hearth already finishing one of his rounds and going around to his next one. But when he saw Sans, the skeleton they both fucked last night, limping, covered in lava cum stains in his underwear. He just had to follow to see what’s up. 

 

“What the actual fuck!?” Hearth yelled, giving chase, he caught up pretty fast, seeing the panic in Sans’ face made him more alert and suddenly have a sense of dread. “What happened!? Do you even realize your practically naked with cum all over you!?”

  
  


Grillby hurried after Hearth, not having seen the skeleton yet himself. Though when he did, he stopped abruptly, shocked and surprised. “What the hell is going  _ on? _ ” He asked warily, eyes running over the messed up skeleton. He clearly hadn’t showered since they left, or even put on any clothes besides his underwear, though neither did Sans seem to care.

 

Sans was just staring between the two elementals, eyes wild and startled. “wha… what?” He asked, neither of their words quite registering. “i don’t  _ care! _ i don’t have the damn time!”

  
  


“For what!? What is it you need the time for!?” Hearth stressed out, in no mood wanting to be led on and play the guessing game with how distressed Sans seemed at the moment. It was almost contagious, how the worry and urgency spreaded. 

  
  


“my- fffuck-!” Sans was rubbing a palm over his head, trying to sort himself out, trying to ebb down the initial panic just enough for him to  _ talk. _ “dad’s held for ransom by pirates,” he finally managed to utter out. “an’ my brother’s- he’s  _ got _ to be there somewhere!”   
  
They couldn’t have killed him.  _ They couldn’t kill him. _ Sans didn’t know what he would do without his little brother. Didn’t know if he could ever forgive himself - for letting Papyrus go, for not coming  _ with _ him. He  _ couldn’t _ be dead.

 

Grillby’s soul felt heavy at the words. That sounded horrible, terrifying even, and suddenly the skeleton did not seem as crazy anymore. 

  
  


Hearth stayed silent for a moment, calculating the best course of action of action here. He debated for only a few seconds if he should  _ really  _ get involved. But what was he thinking, he was a member of the royal soldiers, of course he should stand up to help.

 

“I have a ship.” Hearth said quickly, taking off his coat and draping it over the small form in front of him. “I will have to talk with my buddies and ready the ship for sail, it will take a moment, but it should be enough time for you to bath and dress. Take anything you think you might need to help your family and meet me at the docks when your done.” He didn’t leave any room to argue.

 

He looked to Grillby and motioned with his head to Sans, “Go with him, for support, make sure you help him in any way and guide him to my usual spot on the docks, hurry! Time is not on our side.” Hearth sprinted off at the direction of the castle gates, speeding past carriages and people of the like.

  
  


Grillby gave Hearth a hurried nod, before turning to Sans. Whom was quick to argue.

  
“we don’t have that  _ time, _ ” he said, before letting out a small screech when Grillby picked him up, hurrying towards the skeletons home with said skeleton in his arms.

 

“Then we’ll be fast,” he simply said. “Hearth knows what he’s doing. Probably more so than you do.”   
  
Sans wanted to complain, wanted to struggle out of Grillby’s hold and run back to the docks. But he was sore all over, he was scared and he  _ knew _ he had a good point. So he just kept quiet, curling up in Grillby’s arms as he carried him home, trying not to think of what they might be doing to Papyrus right now…

 

-

 

Reaper was squealing at Papyrus in joy, he didn’t think anyone even talked about the tree made completely out of bodies that one time. Maybe because they aren’t usually on land or no one thought it was them. Either way, he was glad Papyrus knew about it and knew it was them!

 

“I THOUGHT NO ONE KNEW IT WAS US! THEY DON’T REALLY TALK ABOUT IT WHEN WE ARE THE TOPIC! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE LEFT A MARK! DOES EVERYONE  _ KNOW  _ IT’S US, OR  _ YOU  _ FIGURED IT OUT YOURSELF?” Reaper was crossed legged in front of Papyrus, Death on the deck steering them to more shallow waters, going between islands that are close together. The small monster was glad there ship was small.

  
  


“THERE’S SOME THEORIES THAT IT WAS YOU, THOUGH SOME PEOPLE ARE MORE SUPERSTITIOUS AND WERE BLAMING IT ON BAD GHOSTS OR DEMONS?” Papyrus mused out, remembering when he had heard the tales about it. It hadn’t actually been on the topic of the reaper brothers when he first heard about the tree thing, though it  _ did _ sound a lot like something they would do. Papyrus ended up being the one bringing the topic of the pirates into discussion.

 

“THAT’S SILLY, THOUGH! AND I KNEW THAT THE ONLY NON-FICTIONAL PEOPLE THAT WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS WOULD BE THE REAPER BROTHERS!!!”

  
  


Reaper’s hand flew to slam on his chest, touched. “AWWW, YOU SMART LITTLE THING, YOU! GEEZ, TO THINK A LITTLE KID LIKE YOU ARE SMARTER THAN ADULTS! I’M NOT SURPRISED THOUGH, ADULTS THESE DAYS ARE SO HUNG UP WITH THEIR GODS AND THINGS THAT DON’T EXIST TO REALIZE THE TRUTH.” Reaper sighed, scooting towards one of the crates he hauled and opening it to retrieve an apple.

 

“WHY ARE YOU SO INTERESTED IN US?” Reaper wondered out loud. “WE AREN’T GOOD ROLE MODELS AND YOU ARE SCARED YET DON’T SHOW IT? WHY?” It was weird how Papyrus was scared at first, yet seemed to calm down, like he accepted his fate.

  
  


Why indeed. Papyrus wasn’t entirely sure of it either. He  _ was _ scared. Knowing his and his father’s life were in danger, knowing their deaths would be gruesome, cruel ones, it was scary. Yet he also knew there was nothing he could do. He also knew that obedience got him farther than begging. And that, when he got to talk about what he knew about the pirates, he just got carried away so quickly, almost completely forgetting the danger he was in.

 

“I DON’T KNOW…” He admitted, sounding maybe a little ashamed. “IT’S JUST SO INTERESTING TO ME, GETTING TO SEE THE PIRATES I’VE READ SO MUCH ABOUT IN PERSON! I JUST GET CARRIED AWAY…”

  
  


“INTERESTING.”

 

-

 

Hearth had talked to his buddies that work alongside him, having them agree to come along on a emergency rescue. With his friends help, they took the boat they will use out of storage dock, piled on as much food they could get their hands on, supplies for any repairs they would need for small breaks. 

 

By the time they were done, he spotted Sans and Grillby running, Sans in the lead. “We are ready to set sail, come on board!” Hearth called to them.

  
  


Sans was still having trouble running, though he felt a lot better showered and properly dressed, though at least Grillby was carrying his bag for him. He was limping up to Hearth, speedwalking towards the boat.

  
“go, go, go, go,” he hurried, eyes still panicked, though a little bit less than before, having had time to at least get past the initial state of shock. Though he was far from fine, anxiety coiling in him to the point it was almost choking.

 

Grillby was following after him close by, stopping next to Hearth and handing him back the coat. “He told me he saw one of his father’s crew, though supposedly they’re the only one left alive. Aside from his father and brother. Whatever pirates got them must be very dangerous.”

  
  


“They didn’t say who?” Hearth tisked, slightly annoyed of the unknown ahead of them. He motioned with his arm for his buddies to get to work and set sail, which they did, moving fluently like they owned it.

 

Hearth pushed Sans lightly to follow him to the captain’s wheel, already leading them out the docs. “Can you tell me how your family looks like, and their names?” If he was going on a rescue mission, he will need to know the people he is planning to rescue.

  
  


“gaster an’ papyrus, tall dudes, skeletal. uh, pops got those big face slashes,” Sans explained, motioning over his own cracked face to paint a mindpicture of Gaster’s scars. “‘e’s been sent off by the king only a dad ago, uhh… fuck…” He was talking quickly, panicked, curling in on himself a little as he tried to remember any crucial details. But his mind was whirring and his soul was beating fast.

 

He managed to remember where Gaster had been headed and told Hearth, though he couldn’t remember the exact route they wanted to take. He  _ knew _ they told him, but at the moment Sans didn’t think it’d  _ matter. _

  
  


“Gaster?!” Hearth almost screeched, eyes widening. “The royal inventor, Gaster?! Are you serious?! I fucked the royal inventor’s son!?!” He looked at Grillby, like they would get in trouble and just look at their partners in crime just to share hopeless looks. 

 

“Fuck!” 

  
  


“Oh fuck,” Grillby breathed out as well, eyes catching briefly on the bite mark that was still partly visible on Sans’ shoulder. The skeleton in question just frowned, glancing away from either of them.

 

“what? tha’s wha’ you’re gonna be hung up about?” He huffed out in slight annoyance. He already didn’t like the fact that his hook-up decided to escort him to his father, but the fact that he was now stuck on a boat with his hook-up  _ regretting _ last night was even worse.

  
  


“No! I mean… it’s no problem, um… as long as your father doesn’t come for our heads I mean.” Hearth scratched the back of his head, unsure where to take this. He was stuck in place, the boat was already moving and all they could do now was wait until they get there, it’s going to be a while.


	5. when does sans ever listen?

They’ve been sailing through the night, Sans only having managed to sleep for an hour or so, though Grillby wasn’t a  _ lot _ better off either. He was at the edge of the ship, eyeglass in his hand as he was keeping lookout for anything suspicious. And he’s been sitting there for several hours now. But hours worth their time.

 

“Hearth,” he hurriedly called out. “Look at…  _ this. _ ” He wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking at, still too far away to see. Though it seemed like a ship, it looked like there was something odd on it though. Something Grillby simply couldn’t put his finger on.

  
  


Hearth looked at the direction Grillby was looking at, grabbing a eyeglass from a companion next to him, opening it and peering threw. It looked like…. a ship! Maybe it was the ship they were looking for, yet the sail wasn’t there, or was broken off…

 

Well. Sans was told they were attacked.

 

He passed the eyeglass to Sans so he can see as well. “Is that the ship your father left in?”

  
  


Sans took the eyeglass from Hearth, looking through. “i don’ know…” Sans muttered, squinting his eyes in focus. They were still far away, though the ship seemed to come close and closer until Sans started to see  _ something. _

 

“what the…” Sans’ eyes widened as he suddenly  _ saw _ , and he toppled back, practically throwing the eyeglass onto the floor.

 

“ _ Fuck, _ are you okay!?” Grillby asked concerned, dropping down next to Sans, though Sans did not respond, looking sick and in shock.

  
  


Hearth picked up the eyeglass, checked if it wasn’t cracked, then look into it himself. There, he saw, he saw what has became of this vessel and it’s crew. “Oh…. dear lord…” Hearth choked on his breath. He looked away, covering his mouth with his free hand.

 

“Oh… lord….” He repeated, completely at of loss what to say.

 

They reached the ship in due time, the whole crew shocked at what the ship has become, some regretting and voicing their thoughts to either leave this mission or to move away. They had stopped right next to the boat, mostly to check for survivors. But no, everyone knew who would do such a thing.

 

The Reaper brothers.

 

Only they would do something so horrible. 

 

Hearth looked to Sans, almost losing his voice at the first word. “We…. have to check, the dust… I mean… If there’s dust with their clothes… then we know what happened… if not…” He didn’t say anything more, mostly because it was Sans’ decision if he wanted to pursue a suicide mission, or call it quits now that he knew who he was up against.

  
  


Sans didn’t even care, wasn’t even listening anymore. He was already heading down and into the ship, eyes focused straight ahead. And he was pretending,  _ pretending _ he didn’t see the gore all around him. That he couldn’t not smell anything but death. That he didn’t feel like his own bile would heave up any moment.

 

He just had to find  _ them. _ Or not, as long as he wouldn’t find their dust…

 

Grillby cursed under his breath as Sans simply left them, but he followed up quickly, also looking around for any piles of dust. Though in the end Sans was the only one that could tell if the clothes belonged to his family.

  
  


Hearth decided to stay on the boat, keeping watch with the rest of his men, some trying to tell him that they should just turn back, that these pirates were too dangerous, that these people they were looking for wasn’t worth it.

 

Hearth agreed, yet he wasn’t the one with his whole family kidnapped, so he decided Sans should be the one to decide. If they do find their dust here, and Sans still wanted to go after them for revenge,  _ then  _ Hearth would put his foot down. But. If there was a chance, a single chance that they could save those two souls, find them  _ alive. _ Then yeah, Hearth was going to support Sans.

  
  


Sans slammed the door open as they came out again, his frown looking fierce but cold. “they’re not here,” he said as Grillby hurried out after him. “neither’s their dust.”   
  
“We checked all the cabins and storage rooms,” Grillby confirmed. “There’s dust, but none of which Sans recognize- What are you doing!?”   
  
Sans had ignored them, headed to one of the small boats, swallowing down his bile as he was shoving away any guts and gore that was on it and try to get it into the water. “‘m still gonna go,” Sans said coldly. “i don’ care who they are or if y’re gonna go back. i’m not leavin’ without my brother.”

  
  


Hearth sped walked over to Sans, moving quickly on the plank that bridges the two ship together and grabbed Sans’ hand. “No, we are on a rescue mission, and we will see it through. Let go of the boat, we will keep going.” Hearth said reassuringly, pulling Sans gently away from the boat, brushing the blood off the skeletal hands.

  
  


Sans didn’t struggle, finding himself too weak to. His hand clamped into a fist in Hearth’s, but he didn’t say anything, simply giving the elemental a small nod as he decided to go with him onto the ship.

 

He didn’t think they still would want to help him, not after seeing this. Not after finding out  _ which _ pirates had attacked the ship.

 

Grillby followed up until he was in step with Hearth. “...Are you sure about this?” He asked in a hushed voice, though Sans’ could still hear it, fists tightening a little. “This… is pretty fucked up. Maybe we should get more people first or-”   
  
“with what  _ time!? _ ” Sans interrupted him, his voice broken by a sickish sob. He cursed, trying to not break down in front of them. “jus’... decide whether you wanna go or not. i don’t  _ care, _ just make it quick.”

  
  


“ _ I’m  _ going.” Hearth said, certain, before looking at Grillby. “What if you were the one that had their loved ones taken? What if they took me?” He stared into Grillby’s eyes, serious. Knowing full well if he had said ‘family’, Grillby wouldn’t care, not with the type of family his friend got. 

 

“If they took you, I’d go.” He said, before walking to the wheel to lead them forward. There was a gorge up ahead, if Hearth would have left a scene like this, he would look for cover, so there is their best bet. The gorge was high, yet it had enough space between the rocks for ships to pass through.

 

If Hearth’s eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, then he saw islands on the other side, close together that you would be able to walk to each one from the other, yet not without getting your body wet by at least you knees. Thankfully they were some spaces between islands that a ship can pass through, deep enough for them to navigate if they looked to where it was deeper.

  
  


Grillby’s eyes followed Hearth to the wheel as he let out a tense sigh. He knew the other was right, and if it’d been Hearth that had gotten kidnapped… He would’ve gone lengths as well.

 

Besides, Sans looked downright miserable. The skeleton had removed himself from either of the elementals, sat down on the floor with his back to the wall of the edge of the ship. His eyes looked absolutely haunted, terrified, though Grillby could only get a glimpse before Sans hid his face in his tucked up legs.

 

“...Hey,” Grillby said quietly as he approached the skeleton. “Sorry about that… We’re going to find your family.” Though Sans didn’t respond. Or react at all. If it hadn’t been for the small shaking of his bones, Grillby would’ve thought the skeleton wasn’t even awake.

 

He let out another sigh, before going back to Hearth. “Do we know where we’re going…?”

  
  


“We have no leads,” Hearth mused. “But if someone would have just done something like this, then they would want cover or to get as far away from here as possible. And since the Reaper brothers are the stealthy type, they would hide over there.” He pointed at the gorge.

 

“Since there is no hiding places besides the islands and that gorge, there is no other way. We haven’t seen them out in the open, where we could have spotted them leaving. So this is our best bet.” Hearth concluded, turning the ship so it would head into the gorge correctly to not hit any walls.

 

Hearth liked his baby, and would rather have in unscathed. 

  
  


Grillby gave a small nod, though he shuddered at the thought.

 

Some people didn’t even believe the reaper brothers were a real thing. That the stories of two monsters alone murdering entire crews of ships was simply too unrealistic. That they were gruesome horror stories made up for attention.

 

Grillby never cared. Not before. He wasn’t the type to go out to sea - or hell, even leave the tavern a lot. And he’s never given the reaper brothers more thought than necessary.

 

But  _ seeing _ what they’ve done,  _ seeing _ how many people had died on this ship. It was a horrifying sight, something that just wouldn’t leave him. And they were heading  _ straight to them. _

 

“...Hearth,” he said, his voice smaller than usually. “We’re not… going to survive this… are we?”

  
  


“Yes, we are. If we play it  _ smart _ .” Hearth said firmly, tapping his head to empathize his point. Grillby might not be  _ that  _ much younger than Hearth, but Hearth always had that ‘little brother’ sense for the younger flame. Always encouraging him, always telling him things will be okay. And it will. It will. As long as they stay cautious and smart. 

 

“I won’t let you die. You hear me?” Hearth commanded, huffing at how negative Grillby can be. “You’re so negative….” He grumbled, but mostly to tease, just to lighten the mood, make Grillby feel at least a  _ little  _ more at ease.

  
  


Grillby nodded, not exactly feeling  _ good _ about this, but… Hearth saying it was gonna be fine  _ was _ kind of reassuring.

 

“...Thanks,” he muttered out.

  
  


They had slowly moved into the gorge, keeping to the middle. The walls were so close you would think they would brush up the sails at any point, but they didn’t. There were rocks along the sides of the gorge, like pieces of it fell and piled up there, one would be able to walk alongside the sides of the gorge walls on the rocks, if they stepped carefully. Hearth could see water between each rock, threatening to grab and take hold to an unfortunate foot, not letting go without a few scraps and wet clothes.

 

But that wasn’t what Hearth paid attention to, what he focus on was the back of a ship in front of them. It was dark in color, the sails almost looked see through and it just gave off a vibe of ‘death’ and ‘danger’.

 

“There.” Hearth whispered, going to his closest crew member to tell his orders and for them to quietly spread the word. Don’t want the Reaper brothers to notice them yet.

 

They had the element of surprise.

 

Hearth grabbed onto Sans and pulled him up onto his feet, shushing him and putting a finger to his own lips. “We found them.” He notified. 

  
  


Sans eyes snapped wide, though he stayed quiet.  “wha’s the plan?” He asked, voice hushed and hurried. 

 

Grillby turned to Hearth expectantly. “What  _ is _ the plan?” He asked, not knowing himself. He wasn’t even sure if Hearth had one.

  
  


“We are going to sneak in, climb the back of the ship, and attack them while they think they’re alone. We have to be quick, fast,  _ quiet. _ If what the stories says is true, then we don’t stand a chance.” Hearth muttered, his crew already going into formation at the front, weapons and hooks at the ready.

 

“I need you two here, in the back, or better yet under the ship. Just in case.” Hearth looked behind him to see the two least experienced on the ship, pushing them away lightly so they hit the railing at the back of the boat.

  
  


Sans was about to fight Hearth off, though Grillby could see, quickly putting his arm around Sans, hand on his mouth in case he was about to start a scene.

 

“ _ We _ can’t fight them,” Grillby said in a hushed voice. “So if you at least want to  _ survive, _ listen to him.”

 

“my  _ brother’s _ on there,” Sans hissed as he pulled Grillby’s hand down. “y’ think ‘m just gonna sit here and wait!?”   
  
“What do you intent to  _ do _ on there?” Grillby questioned, his voice tense. “You can’t  _ fight _ them!”   
  
“i have to  _ try! _ ” Sans argued, struggling in his hold.

  
  


“ _ You _ have to leave it to the professionals. These people are the most dangerous pirates out there, and you are still limping from a one night stand.” Hearth hissed, annoyed by their bickering at a time like this. “The only reason you got this far is because of us, do you  _ want  _ your family to see you die before their eyes? Would you want that for them?” Hearth struggled to keep his voice low, but thankfully he was at the back of the ship.

 

“Your emotions are getting the better of you, and you are misunderestimating the people that took your family. Think about this, it would be better if  _ trained  _ soldiers went ahead, if anything, you would be a hinderous to us. Just think, one of my men could have saved  _ you  _ instead of your family, wasting their time they could have used to save the people you came for to begin with.” Hearth’s tone became softer, feeling for the frustrated skeleton. The need to help, the desperation he must feel.

 

“The best you can do for them now is… to wait and let them be saved.” Hearth looked at Grillby, debating if he should scold him too, but decided against it. But really, Grillby should know better than to argue at a time like this.

  
  


Sans was still glaring at Hearth like he just found out  _ he _ had kidnapped his family. But he stopped struggling, glaring down at the floor instead.

 

“bring ‘em back alive,” he muttered out. “...an’ don’t die.”   
  
Grillby loosened his hold on Sans now that he wasn’t struggling anymore, but he still kept his arm around him. For comfort now more than anything. Maybe even for comfort for himself. Sans didn’t seem to mind.

  
  


Hearth nodded, about to say something but was cut off by a scream.

 

-

 

Death had been munching on a loaf of bread when he heard it, wood creaking and hushed whispers. He got up from beside the wheel to look behind the ship to confirm his suspicions. A ship…

 

It was bigger than theirs, but that isn’t surprising. Instead he stuffed the loaf of bread in his mouth before running to the sail post, jumping up, using Gaster’s head as a step stool before launching himself to the post, climbing up until he made it to the top of the sail. The very top was made out of metal, so both Reaper and Death could grapple it with their chained mini scythes without breaking anything.

 

He watched them scramble about with an amused look, they were clearly trying to be quiet. Too bad Death already noticed them. He watched them a little bit more, waiting until they were formed in whatever formation they were planning to do, only when they looked sure of themselves did he decide to strike.

 

Reaper was under the ship talking with Papyrus, Death didn’t really like how close Reaper was getting to the younger skeleton, knowing it would just end with the small one dieing. Reaper shouldn’t waste time on him, shouldn’t have to build something up only for it to be destroyed later. But his brother knew what he was doing, he wouldn’t let that happen.

 

So when Death announced himself, he would make sure Reaper would hear, for backup.

 

He swung one of the little scythes that was on one end of the long chain, letting it fly in close to the closest soldier, only to grab the chain and give a hard swing to make the scythe wip to the left, slicing the man’s throat open in one fell swoop.

 

The other soldier around the one he killed all whipped around in shock, hearing the gross cut off scream the dying man made before falling dead on the ground, face twisted into a look of horror.

  
  


Sans jerked when he heard the scream, eyes wide and panicked. “what the fuck was  _ that!? _ ” He asked, stretching in Grillby’s hold to see what happened, but the scream only caused Grillby to hold on tighter again, his eyes flicking over to Hearth panicked, questioning.

  
  


“ _ ellllllooooooo~! _ ” A voice cheered from above, over the many noises of screaming and gasps. Death waved at them all, pulling the chain back so he could grab onto the scythe that just killed one of the soldiers. He was bent down, now with both scythes in each hand, he brought up one so he could lick the blood slowly from the blade. 

 

“ya ‘ost? ‘er ya been lookin’ fer us?” He giggled, the hood covering up to his nose with the way he was looking down from the sail’s top.

 

Hearth cursed, stepping back, a hand going in front of Grillby and Sans in a subconscious move to protect them. “Fuck…. that’s… one of the Reaper brothers…” His voice quivered at the sight, the big grin, the hooded eyes, and the scythes.

  
  


“ _ do something! _ ” Sans cried out panicked. “before he just-  _ ah! _ ” He managed to break out of Grillby’s hold, the elemental calling a panicked, “No,  _ fuck _ ,” before Sans was already running.

 

He wasn’t even sure what he was thinking. Or if he was thinking at all. But seeing this pirate, knowing that if they’d hesitate any longer everyone might be  _ dead, _ Sans just couldn’t stand still anymore. 

  
He pushed through the soldiers, ducking whenever one of them wanted to grab and stop him, until he finally reached the edge of the boat. “where’s my brother!?” He called up at the pirate.

  
  


“i don’ think ya should be callin’ demands.” Death mused, telling go of one of the scythes, and flinging it to Sans. A soldier beside the skeleton pulled Sans away from the scythe, but was unlucky enough for his arm to get in the way, slicing it clean off.

 

The soldier screamed in pure agony, letting go of Sans to curl up around his arm, his other companions pulling him away from the front lines and behind the rest, protected as much as he could be at the moment.

 

“damn, i missed~” Death hummed, grabbing onto the scythe yet again.

 

“Sans, get out of there!!” Hearth yelled, frustrated beyond words. He  _ just  _ got done telling this skeleton that him getting into the fight would cause more trouble for everyone around him!

 

“WELL WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?” Reaper called, looking a few feet under Death, holding onto the sail pillar with his legs and one arm, while the other over his eyes like he was trying to block out the sun. There was no light coming into the gorge. “WELL HELLO THERE!”

 

“Shit!” Hearth muttered under his breath, feeling cornered.

  
  


Sans was hyperventilating as his eyes were stuck on the severed arm, blood scattered on his own body. “m...my  _ brother, _ ” Sans cried out again, like his desperation could convince the pirate to give him back.

 

Grillby cursed, hurrying after the skeleton, like having two inexperienced soldiers out there would make it somehow better, like Hearth hadn’t just told them why they needed to stay back. But he could tell Sans was frozen in shock, and if he’d stay there he’d  _ die. _

 

He quickly rushed over to the skeleton, grabbing him to pull him back again, when another voice was heard from the pirate ship. A weak one, exhausted one, sounding like they had been crying themselves.

 

“ _ Sans, _ ” they cried out desperately. “ _ Get away from them! _ ”

 

But the voice only seemed to spur Sans on more. Sans eyes flared up with life again, like a trigger had been pulled the second he heard  _ his father’s _ voice, and he was struggling in Grillby’s hold, glaring up at Death.   
  
“ _ where’s papyrus!? _ ” He screeched, absolutely furious, his left eye glowing as he reached out with his magic to try to hold on Death’s soul.

  
  


The small pirate gasped, quickly moving the chain on his weapon around himself and the pillar, holding himself in place.

 

This skeleton has blue magic…

 

“god’a try be’der dan dat!” Death called, sticking his tongue out teasingly. 

 

“BROTHER?” Reaper asked, keeping a good eye on Death, just in case his brother was sent flying, once he was assured Death was fine, he focused back on the other skeleton. “PAPYRUS? THAT SKELETON KID THAT KNOWS WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT US?” 

 

Reaper clearly knew who Sans was talking about, but it was more fun keeping him at the edge of his leash. “SORRY, HE’S NOT AVAILABLE, BUT YOU CAN HAVE THE CRYING ONE IF YOU’D LIKE. WE ARE KEEPING THE KID THOUGH!” He added the last part hurriedly, like it was apart of a deal.

 

Reaper disappeared back onto the boat, only to come back a little later with Gaster in his arms, still with rope restraining him. “SEE, YOUR FATHER IS SAFE, AREN’T YOU GLAD!” His voice was mocking, knowing clearly from the way Sans only seems concerned about his brother and never a care to the royal inventor, Gaster. And it would mess with him if he is given the one he  _ isn’t  _ asking for.

  
  


It was almost like a stone has been lifted from Sans’ soul knowing his family was alive. Though the stone was more like a pebble, as they still wouldn’t give him back, as he still didn’t know if he was safe, what they were doing with him,  _ why they wanted to keep him. _

 

“He- He’s just a child,  _ please! _ ” Gaster begged, unable to watch his other son get into danger as well, when he hadn’t even been able to save Papyrus. “Just let Papyrus go! I’ll do  _ anything _ you want, just let my sons g-”   
  
The blue magic shifted, from Death over to Gaster, trying to pull the older skeleton over to their own ship. Though Sans was far from happy. “ _ give him back! _ ” He growled with venom in his voice. Except the venom was as highly concentrated as the one of a mosquito, and Sans was about as threatening as a leashed german spitz with his lack of size or strength, skill or even mobility as Grillby was still holding him back.

  
  


Reaper scoffed, ignoring the weak grasp on Gaster and just throwing the inventor at his son instead, “HERE THEN, ENJOY!” Reaper looked up with a polite smile. “BROTHER WOULD YOU PLEASE!?”

 

Death grinned, “sure.” he said, starting to unshackle himself from the sail.

  
  


“ _ my brother! _ ” Sans screeched, but quickly stopped struggling as he was knocked out cold by the flame holding him, headbutted to the back of his skull.

 

“...Sorry about that,” Grillby muttered out quietly, before moving Sans to hold him under one arm and grab the ropes the royal inventor was still tied in, dragging him along as he rushed over to Hearth.

 

“Ow- Ouch! My  _ son’s _ still on there!” Gaster complained, his eyes panicked and voice desperate.

 

“Sorry about that, too,” Grillby uttered out, own voice rushed. “But I’m only here to bring you two in safety.” He let go of Gaster, moving Sans in his arms to hold him better, worried he might drop the unconscious skeleton any moment. His eyes dashed over to Hearth, panicked, though he couldn’t even articulate any words, any questions, anything.

  
  


But Hearth was in space, staring off at Death, looking breathless. He didn’t look scared per say, just dumbfounded. But he quickly snapped out of it when Grillby came near, the bigger flame taking Gaster off his hands, holding him close yet giving him the space he needs to get on his untied feet. Hearth will have to cut the ropes around the monster’s upper body later, when they are out of danger.

 

There was a loud sound above them, when he looked up, he saw Death dropping down back onto his perch, with boulders breaking off from the gorges edge, right over his boat. The boulders fell straight on the front of his ship, he heard the screams of panic and horror before it was drowned out by them simply getting crushed.

 

Hearth didn’t have much time to react, he screamed for Grillby to follow before jumping over the ship’s side, taking Gaster with him. Landing on the hard rocks, getting some water on himself from the liquid being between the rocks.

  
  


Grillby followed without hesitation, despite his initial fear of the water. He was working on adrenaline, instincts, no time for thoughts. He jumped over the edge without knowing what was underneath, only having the time he was landing to actually catch onto one of the rocks. His leg still hit the water, breaking the surface, though he quickly pulled it back.

 

He managed to straighten himself, still holding Sans in his arms, one arm leaning onto the walls of the gorge for support as he had to watch the ship sink, the few remaining survivors drowning with it.

 

“... _ Fuck, _ ” he breathed out as adrenaline slowly started to ebb away and get replaced by sheer fear. They were stranded, without a ship, on the edge of a gorge, surrounded by water.

  
  


“byyyyyeee~” Death waved, the Reaper brother’s ship moving along, separating themselves with small wall of rocks that just killed a whole crew.

 

They watched them go, taking the little boy Papyrus with them.

 

“Shit.” Hearth breathed out, holding Gaster close as he watched them disappear.


	6. papyrus goes to the dark side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year, y'alls!!

Death walked into the bottom floor of his ship, sitting down next to Papyrus. “welp. looks like yer pops is no long’er sailin’ with us.” Crossing his arms in success. “yer bro tried ta be a hero too. ‘ow sweet.”

  
  


“WHA...WHAT???” Papyrus asked shocked and surprised. He noticed something was going on outside, but the voices were too muffled and too many for Papyrus to actually know  _ what _ was going on.  _ Who _ had been there. “IS HE OKAY??? WHERE’S DAD!? WHAT  _ HAPPENED!? _ ”

  
  


“don’ worry, d’ere gone, taken care of.” Death said proudly, getting up and giving the skeleton a wink. “ha, yer bro looked dead set in savin’ ya too! haha!” He laughed like it was the most hilarious thing he ever heard. 

 

The pirate took a step towards the stairs, one foot already on the first step.

  
  


Papyrus eyes followed the pirate fearfully. What did that mean? Where they dead?  _ Of course they were dead. _ Those were the  _ reaper brothers. _ They wouldn’t call their work ‘finished’ if not every single person has been murdered.

 

Papyrus felt sick, tears gathering on his face.

 

So he was alone now. Completely alone, captive to two pirates. His brother had died trying to save him. His father was dead. Was he going to die, too? Or were they just going to keep him alive like this?

 

The skeleton pulled his legs close, curling up as much as he could with the way he was still tied up. He wasn’t crying per-say, but the only reason for that was most likely the fact that the shock was still trying to settle, and  _ what _ he was doing was trying to stop his mind from convincing him things were fine.

 

They were not.

 

-

 

“This way.” Hearth said, his voice tired, pushing Gaster gently in the right direction with Grillby following from the back. They continued through the gorge until they finally made it out, dropping on a island connected to the gorge, the small beach feeling nice compared to the tight dark space between two death rocks.

 

“Finally…” Hearth gasped, letting Gaster go as he lay on the sandy floor, breathing heavily. 

  
  


Grillby dropped to the ground as well, on his knees first, placing Sans down on his back, before Grillby sat down properly, pulling the leg of his pants up to examine his hurt leg.

 

Gaster was the only one not lying or sitting down, unsure if he’d be able to get up by himself if he would, with his arms still tied up, and he didn’t want to be more of a nuisance to his rescuers. Speaking of which…

 

“I’m sorry,” he breathed out. “I’m  _ so so sorry. _ You’ve lost your ship, your crew, to save me… Thank you… so much.” They didn’t even manage to get Papyrus. Papyrus was still stuck on the ship and Gaster  _ knew _ he should be thankful to them, and he  _ was. _ But he didn’t think he’d ever be able to feel any kind of relief as long as Papyrus was the one still captive to the pirates.

  
  


“Huh…?” Hearth asked, rolling to his side. “Why you thanking us? We aren’t done yet.” He stated, taking a moment to catch his breath before sitting up, very, very slowly. He reached in his pocket to grab a small dagger. “Can you maybe, uh, sit down next to me. I need to cut the rope…. and my legs aren’t working now… sooo…”

 

He motioned with his head to the dagger then the ground next to him, telling Gaster silently to sit down.

  
  


Gaster nodded hesitantly but obediently, quickly sitting down in the sand close to Hearth. “You… You’re still planning to go after them…?” The royal inventor asked almost breathless at the mere thought.    
  
Grillby at this point had laid down on his back as well, the leg of his pants still rolled up as he tried to let his flames recover from the moistness. He was side eying his friend skeptically.

 

“Yea,” he breathed out, “...We  _ are? _ ” Though really, what was he asking. Of course they were. Of course Hearth wouldn’t stop saving this guy’s family until he either managed to do so or died trying. Damn Hearth and his soul of gold.

 

“...Course we are,” Grillby sighed out, before looking up ahead at the sky again. “...You think Sans’s okay? I didn’t think he’d be out this long…”

  
  


Hearth hummed in thought, moving the dagger to cut the rope, his other hand moving to slide between the ropes and Gaster’s back, a shield in case Hearth accidently poked him and using it to keep Gaster still with Hearth’s strong movements. “How hard did you hit him? He is breathing, right?” He asked a bit worriedly, glancing at Gaster for a second then back to the rope.

  
  


“He’d be dust if he wasn’t breathing,” Gaster reminded them, wiggling off the now cut ropes, before turning back towards the elementals. “Thank you… again.”   
  
He got up to walk over to his unconscious son, dropping down again next to him and lifting Sans up so his back was leaning against Gaster’s knee, one hand on Sans’ forehead, the other on his ribcage.

 

“...He seems fine,” the inventor sighed out. “I think he just tired himself out in general.”   
  
“Would make sense…” Grillby muttered, though that didn’t exactly make him feel any better, worried he had gone too far with knocking Sans’ out. But it  _ had _ been crucial to save their damn lives in the end…

  
  


“Guess…. now we have to…. follow the ship?” Hearth formed his statement as a question, leaving room for more suggestions. “I don’t see their ship out there, so they must have stopped around here somewhere. Maybe we could even get their boat. It’s the only shot we have.” Hearth tried to get up, but his legs seemed like jelly, spots on his uniform had moist spots randomly around his body.

 

“After a break…..” He said shamefully, dropping back down on the ground.

 

-

 

They agreed to have their break, both elementals exhausted and hurt from the water. Gaster was the only one not in any physical pain, though he’d been exhausted ever since he got caught by the pirates and was resting away.

 

Around half an hour must’ve passed until Sans finally started stirring. Small groans at first, eyes scrunching together. “wha’ happened…?” He groaned out eventually, a hand slowly going up to his skull. “‘ow much did i  _ drink…? _ ”

 

“Nothing,” Grillby muttered out, though he immediately felt a lot less worried once he heard the skeleton’s voice. “That one might be… my fault.”

 

He didn’t need to say more. Sans’ eyes snapped open once he heard Grillby. And  _ remembered. _ He sat up, hands on the sandy ground.

 

“where are we!?” He asked, voice panicked and shrill. “where’s  _ papyrus!? _ ”

  
  


“Uhhh…” Hearth said, looking at Gaster. He  _ was  _ his father, he believed Gaster should be the one to tell him. About his brother, his son, his family.

  
  


“He’s… still with the pirates,” Gaster croaked out, his voice sounding apologetic and exhausted. He was sitting close to Sans, swiftly pulling his son close into a hug. Though Sans didn’t return it.

 

“what do you mean?  _ how!? _ you just  _ left _ him there!?”   
  
“We didn’t  _ leave _ him, they sunk Hearth’s ship…” Gaster explained. “We’re… we’re still going to get him back, Sans.”   
  
“then what’re you guys layin’ around here for!?” Sans questioned, struggling out of Gaster’s hold to get up. “they could be gettin’ away any moment we waste!”   
  
“We’re  _ hurt _ , Sans,” Grillby uttered out, hissing in slight pain as he pushed himself onto his legs anyways. “We were taking a break. You were out cold, too, and we’re not exactly a great army having to carry around an unconscious skeleton…”

  
  


“Sans, you have to think rational here, I know you’re worried for your brother but we are  _ all  _ tired! If we keep going like this then we would drop dead before we even get  _ close  _ to your brother! All my men are  _ dead, _ my ship was  _ sunk _ and we are all  _ injured _ .” Hearth put emphasize on each crucial word that explained their situation, each one making this more bleak. “Sans, me and Grillby are doing  _ everything  _ to help you, but please. Can’t you see we  _ can’t _ ! We aren’t some incredible force that will get back up just like that!”

 

“We were the ones that were taking the hits, my  _ men  _ had taken the hits, now they are all dead! We have been fighting so  _ you  _ don’t have to!” Hearth growled, shaking as he got up. As much as he wanted to help this poor guy, he can’t take much more. All he had left was Grillby, and he  _ refused  _ to let him be taken away.

  
  


Sans was shaking, arms crossed as he was still glaring at the two elementals. “y’ didn’  _ have _ to come,” he hissed out, like he was angry at  _ them _ for coming. He was not. “y’  _ shouldn’t  _ have come! this isn’t  _ your _ damn fight,  _ you _ weren’t s’pposed- s-s’pposed to get  _ hurt _ over me!”

  
  


“Well we did! We did because we  _ cared,  _ cared for that boy that was running around the streets scared out of his mind for his family in his underwear! We cared enough to help someone in need! Because we are soldiers and that’s what we do!” Hearth yelled back, his fists digging into the sand as he yelled the last part with all his emotions bare. “ _ My  _ **_friends_ ** _ won’t die in vain!!!” _

 

Hearth looked up and stared straight into Sans’ eye sockets. “Now sit your ass down and rest, those motherfuckers aren’t getting away with this.” He hissed, leaving no room for argument. 

  
  


Sans was choking on both his own emotions, as well as the intensity thrown at him by Hearth. He swallowed it down painfully, still glaring at the elemental. But he wasn’t complaining anymore. Wasn’t fighting when Grillby put his hands on Sans’ shoulders, gently pushing him down to the ground with a rough, “Sit,” before lying back down himself.

 

“Sans, he’s… he’s going to be okay,” Gaster told him quietly, softly. “We’re going to get Papyrus back, and you should be thankful with your life that those men are helping us to do so.”   
  
And Sans  _ was. _ Which just made it  _ so much worse _ knowing that they lost  _ so much _ for him. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. They should’ve just stayed home rather than risking their asses for some kid on the streets.

  
  


Hearth laid back down, glad it was settled. “Give us… a little bit more…. then we find them…. while looking for food.” It really took his breath away to scream like that, he hasn’t lost control like that in a long while. He needs a few minutes to calm down and get everything sorted out.

 

He can’t afford to break like that, not when he was the one leading this group, giving them that force. And let’s not mention that he is the only one that can fight now.

 

-

 

Reaper stretched as he climbed down the ship, holding a rope that connected to Papyrus’ restraints. Death was not that far behind, cracking his back with sharp movements, big scythe perched on his shoulder.

 

“ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO COME? I DON’T SEE WHY YOU WOULD?” Reaper asked the tied up skeleton, heading straight into the forest.

 

“why ‘re ya hum’erin’ em?” Death answered with a question, annoyed. They had been planning to leave, but with a quick check from Reaper, the supplies they got from the other ship wasn’t enough food for them for a week. So they had to double back to find some food in the forest of these small islands. 

 

It annoyed Death the most how Reaper is treating Papyrus like some dog on a leash, and not a waste of space and food. He  _ really  _ hopes his brother doesn’t get to attached, or if so, can break out of it quickly.

  
  


Papyrus didn’t respond to the taller skeleton, simply following him obediently like the dog he seemed to be. Really, at this point he had just not wanted to be alone in the ship when the pirates went out. The thought oddly scared him more than the pirates did, and anything was a better option than for Papyrus to have to be alone with his thoughts right now.

 

“...WHY ARE YOU STILL KEEPING ME?” The young skeleton finally asked, a question that’s been on his mind ever since they  _ did _ keep him. But even more so after finding out what happened to his family. “MY DAD IS THE ONE THE KING WANTS, AND HE’S GONE, SO WHY KEEP  _ ME? _ ”

  
  


“YOU’RE  _ INTERESTING! _ ” Reaper replied cheerfully, like that explained everything. “I LIKED THE THINGS YOU LEARNED ABOUT US, I LIKED YOU WEREN’T SHOWING YOUR FEAR, LIKE YOU DON’T HAVE ANY. AND I LIKE HOW CALM YOU ARE WHEN FACED WITH YOUR DOOM! YOU DON’T SEE THAT OFTEN, SO NOW YOU ARE OUR PET.” Reaper said the last bit proudly, like he was showing off a trophy. 

 

“wha ‘e said.” Death contributed. They all walked along the tree lines, gathering berries and Death striking fish when passing a stream.

  
  


The worst part of this was that watching them was oddly fulfilling. Papyrus didn’t remember ever hearing or reading anything about the pirates  _ off  _ their ship, in the nature, yet they seemed to know exactly what they were doing. What berries and fruits to pick, how to catch animals. He felt like if they would give him just a bit more freedom, he could learn a lot from them.

 

And that’s exactly why they kept him, wasn’t it? His odd obsessive curiosity, despite the fact he was in the face of danger -  _ death _ even, quite literally - itself. And what would his family think about him? That sometimes he forgot to grieve, because he saw Death catch a fish and was wondering if he could tell him what kind of fish it was. If it was a lucky catch or if he knew where the fish would be, how to get a hold of them. 

 

It had been  _ okay _ when they first got captured. Odd. Unconventional. But it kept him alive and neither of the pirates seemed to mind. But now Papyrus’ family was  _ gone, _ and wasn’t that just like a spit on their spirits?

  
  


Since Reaper was stronger physically, he held the two bags for their food in one hand, two so the animal blood won’t ruin fruits and vegetables they find. Death was doing the actual work, it was usually the other way around, but Death is  _ not  _ holding that monster’s leash. 

 

That kid was Reaper’s responsibility. 

 

“WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT BROTHER?” Reaper asked, swiftly opening the bag with one hand so Death could place the rabbit inside and maneuvering his arm to close the bag up again.

 

Death hummed in thought, “we… could caw’se some rut’ckus ‘round a town ‘er somethin’. ‘m gettin’ real bored.” He huffed. Of course pirating was fun, but doing the same old same old was getting real boring.

 

“WHY DON’T WE ASK OUR NEW PET!?!” Reaper turned to Papyrus to beam at him, yet you couldn’t see it with the scarf over his mouth. He ignored his brother’s ‘ _ yer  _ pet.’ and asked Papyrus what was something he would think the Reaper brothers would do.

 

“THAT IS WHY I KEPT YOU, YOU HAVE A GOOD GRASP ON US, AND HAVING A NEW SET OF EYES COULD OPEN UP NEW THINGS!” Reaper chirped, getting a surprised but integrated sound from Death, now a little more approving in why Reaper decided to keep him.

  
  


“UH, WELL…” Papyrus uttered out, a bit surprised to suddenly have the attention on him. “THERE’S NO PEOPLE AROUND AND I’VE ONLY EVER READ ABOUT YOU GUYS FROM OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES, BUT… YOU COULD PREPARE SOMETHING NEW- OH!”

 

Despite the topic about to discuss, Papyrus’ eyes lit up, any second guessing and worry replaced by excitement about being able to share ideas, being appreciated for it.

 

“YOU  _ DO _ SEEM LIKE THE TORTUROUS TYPE, YET I’VE NEVER HEARD OF YOU KEEPING CAPTIVES TO TORTURE THEM!” The young skeleton noted. “SOMETHING LIKE SLOW POISONING, THERE SHOULD BE  _ SOME _ PLANTS AROUND HERE…”

 

He wasn’t sticking to Reaper anymore, his mind having gone completely different places, goal set. He was looking around for plants or berries he remembered, thoughtfully trying to think back to when his pirate obsession used to be one for nature, until his eyes caught sight of a low placed bush of bright red berries. 

  
“HOW ABOUT THOSE?” He asked, already trotting up to the berry bush to examine it closer. Before he lost footing, the low bushes having covered up that the ground supporting it  _ stopped _ there, and Papyrus  _ fell _ , with a loud, startled screech, scraping along the rough walls of a gorge as he tried to get a grip on it.


	7. hanging by a thread

They were following Hearth’s lead over the series of small islands. Sans strayed off in the back, while Gaster and Grillby were in the middle, the skeleton having at one point offered to give Grillby some support walking. His leg had gotten damaged from the water, and while it would heal off eventually, walking still was a problem at the moment.

 

They didn’t really know where they were going, simply following Hearth’s lead. Neither did they dare to question it, not in fear of Hearth’s disapproval, but in fear of just getting confirmed that Hearth didn’t know either.

 

Right now they could pretend he did. They could pretend that they were having a plan. That they were getting closer to their goal.

 

“So… you met Sans in the streets?” Gaster decided to eventually ask, trying to strike up some kind of semi-casual conversation to break through the awkward and tense silence. “...In his underwear?”   
  
Though he decided to pick up a really bad topic for that, because Grillby immediately felt himself turning nervous once he asked about it, doing his best not to show it, though.

  
“...Yea. He didn’t have the time to get dressed when he rushed to help you…”

 

“no’ after gettin’ fucked into oblivion by those two, at least!” Sans scoffed out behind them, getting a startled and hissed, “ _ Sans!? _ ” From Grillby.

 

Well. It was true Sans wasn’t exactly the one to keen on sharing his sex life with his father. But he could still tell they were uncomfortable about the fact they had fucked the ‘ _ royal inventors son, _ ’ and really? Fuck that. Fuck them. If they’re scared of the royal inventors rage because apparently Sans can’t be his own damn person, then they might as well get it.

 

“ _ Excuse _ me?” Gaster asked, his voice immediately a bit louder. Not exactly yet…  _ angry, _ but still demanding respect. “You did  _ what _ now?”

  
  


“Um… We met Sans in a bar… then all three of us hooked up that night. Next day Sans got the news and was running around the streets in only his underwear and still….. dirty… freaking out about you…” Hearth explained softly, not looking behind him in case he lost his nerves telling a father that he just threesomed his son.

 

“We didn’t know he was your son until I offered to help him, though. I’m sorry this might upset you, I don’t regret what we did.” He finished, wincing innerly of his words. He was  _ not  _ in the mood to be scolded or yelled at for something that happened two days ago.

  
  


“Oh really now?” Gaster asked, his voice clearly strained, and Grillby being so close to him almost got worried. Though it wasn’t exactly the flames that the royal inventor got angry at. “You brought strangers -  _ two strangers _ \- into our house and  _ slept with them? _ ”   
  
Sans eyes widened surprised, not exactly having expected  _ this _ outcome of the situation. “what the hell, dad!? i’m old enough!”

 

“This isn’t about age, Sans, this is about the fact that those two could’ve been  _ anyone, _ ” Gaster chided, his back still turned to his son as he couldn’t exactly turn around very well while still supporting Grillby. Though this was awkward. Very awkward. And Grillby wished he would just let go of him so he could argue with his son and not have Grillby awkwardly be part of it.

 

“They could’ve been thieves! Murderers! Sans, you don’t just let  _ strangers _ into your house!”

 

“those strangers  _ saved your damn life _ !”   
  
“Because you got  _ lucky! _ ”

 

“Please…” Grillby interrupted them. “Don’t argue about this… Your son is old enough to make his own choices, sir. And neither of us ever meant any harm to your son. Everything’s all right…”

 

“I wouldn’t quite call this  _ alright, _ ” Gaster still argued, but he let out a stressed sigh. “Alright, though. This is no time for arguing. My apologies.”

 

“great, now ‘m just gonna get it later when this ‘s over,” Sans muttered under his breath, hands stuffed into his pockets.

  
  


Hearth huffed, muttering a quiet ‘Watch your step’ to everyone before entering the forest, looking around for anything to eat while also any signs of the Reaper brothers. There was a lot of holes in the ground, all leading to a underground cave, rocks coating the whole thing from much water and Sand from coming in. If Hearth wasn’t in a dire situation, he would be more curious. 

  
  


There was a screech, coming from somewhere in the forest. Loud and shrill and  _ so familiar. _ Oh so familiar, causing Sans’ eyes to widen the  _ second _ he heard it.

 

“that’s papyrus!” He gasped out, before immediately dashing towards where he heard the noise from. 

 

And Gaster recognized it as well, of course, wanting nothing more but to follow up, but the elemental still had trouble walking…

 

Grillby unlocked arms with Gaster, nodding towards the royal inventor. “Go. Hurry. I’ll catch up with you guys.”

 

Gaster hesitated, watching Grillby limp along for a few seconds. But then he heard his older son’s voice, crying out a loud, “ _ papyrus! _ ” And Gaster quickly got drawn back to the scene, giving Grillby a thankful nod before rushing after his sons.

  
  


But thankfully Grillby didn’t need to ‘catch up’, Hearth quickly went to his side and scooped him up, before running after the two other skeletons. “You know damn well I ain’t leaving  _ you  _ behind!” Hearth gruffed, focus on the two ahead of him so he won’t get lost.

  
  


Grillby let out a startled gasp when he was suddenly being carried, but otherwise didn’t complain. He knew he’d be more of a nuisance if he’d end up straying too far behind and getting lost.

 

“...Thanks Hearth,” he decided to mutter out, holding onto the other elemental.

  
  


The group made it to a cliff, the other side of it being higher than theirs, but that worked out in their favor. Because on the other side of that cliff was Papyrus, the rope holding the monster to Reaper snapped off with the rigid rocks, the only thing saving the young skeleton was a fairly decently sized rock that was enough for Papyrus to balance on. Yet even then it wasn’t over, the rock was starting to break under Papyrus’ weight. 

 

Death and Reaper were at the very top of the cliff, looking down in shock.

 

“OH NO!” Reaper cried, looking like he was about to go head first to help, dropping the two bags he was carrying.

 

Death only sighed, looking at the desperate face his own brother was making for this creature, then looking down at  _ said  _ creature. Death quickly gave Reaper one of his mini scythes that was connected to the chain, before wrapping the other scythe around himself and securing it in a way so the blade was away from him.

 

Before jumping down.

 

His brother easily got what he meant, holding the scythe close, watching his brother quickly reach Papyrus and grabbing the rope around him. “ya know yer more trouble dan yer worth kid.” Death grumbled at the tied up monster’s skull, pulling him close.

  
  


Papyrus clung to Death quickly, when he heard another voice, from the other side of the cliff. Panicked and scared, crying out a loud, “ _ papyrus! _ ”

 

Papyrus gasped at the sound, turning his head almost so rapidly he lost balance, spotting not just his brother, but  _ also his father _ at the other end of the cliff. And they were alive. They were alive and  _ right there _ .

 

“ _ SANS!!! _ ” Papyrus burst out, not sure if he was relieved to see them, or even more scared for his life than before.

 

“Hang in there Papyrus!” Gaster called out loudly. “We’ll save you! Just hang in there!”

 

Grillby struggled out of Hearth’s arms as he examined the cliff, eyes concerned and unsure. “How are we gonna get over there…?” He asked, trying to see if there was  _ any _ sort of bridge or path, but finding nothing.

  
  


Hearth made a soft whining sound at someone in danger  _ right in front  _ of him yet he wasn’t their reach. He looked around, thinking, trying to remember his training, anything. Then he saw vines hanging from the trees.

 

Oh.

 

Death removed the scythe and chain around him to cut the ropes around Papyrus, “when ya can move, i need ya ta use da chain ta climb up, ‘ll get up after ya.” His face was close to Papyrus, focusing on the ropes, but since his eyes were covered it looked like he was staring right at Papyrus’ face.

  
  


“O-OKAY!” Papyrus replied nervously, waiting for Death to cut the ropes. Before finally putting his hands onto the chain of the scythes, climbing up the wall.

 

It was a good thing Papyrus had always been an active kid, climbing trees and helping the sailing crews with their tougher work. He didn’t have a problem making his way up, until his hands finally clawed unto the edge of the cliff, pulling himself up the rest of the way. And immediately scooting away from the edge.

 

“I’M UP!!!” He called down to Death to let him know, wanting to ask if he needed any help. Though he got quickly distracted by the group of monsters, swinging along the vines to get over the cliff, the elementals ending up helping the two less as skilled monsters to reach them and get off.

 

“Papyrus!” Gaster gasped out the second he was on land, quickly followed by Sans. “paps! holy fuck, papy, you’re  _ safe! _ ” And they both ran up to the young skeleton, ignoring anyone else, to hug their son and brother, Papyrus letting out a startled squeal between them. But he quickly returned the group hug, feeling his throat clam up and tears threaten to fall.

 

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” He sobbed out pathetically. “I THOUGHT I’D NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!”

 

“No, no, Papyrus, we’re here,” Gaster shushed him quietly. “We’re not leaving you alone again.”   
  
“never again,” Sans agreed immediately. 

  
  


“BROTHER!!!” Reaper screeched, his voice intertwined with worry and anguish. The rock that held up Papyrus and then Death, broke. The sudden lack of ground under Death caught him unprepared, losing his grip on his scythe and left falling. Thankfully there was another more larger rock a little ways down, but unluckily Death hit his head on the fall. Leaving him a groaning ball of pain, curled up to protect his head, not realizing what situation he was in anymore.

 

“NO BROTHER, HANG ON THERE, YOU WILL BE OKAY!”  Reaper called out to him, only getting a groan in response from his loud voice.

 

Hearth and Grillby finally made it to the family hugging it out, looking at the Reaper brother curiously, unsure what to say about it.

  
  


Papyrus  _ did  _ know what to say about the Reaper brothers reaction, though, and was quickly wiggling out the hug, to look down the cliff worried.

 

“papyrus, what’re you-”   
  
“WE NEED TO HELP HIM!” Papyrus said, without a second of hesitation. “DO ANY OF YOU HAVE ROPE??? A CHAIN?”   
  
“Papyrus, that’s  _ insane! _ ” Gaster replied, his tone both confused and worried. “Those pirates aren’t good people. We should get away while we can!”   
  
“HE’S DOWN THERE BECAUSE HE  _ SAVED _ ME!” Papyrus argued, the words slowly resonating with Sans. “I WOULD BE DEAD IF HE HADN’T COME FOR ME!!!”

 

And he was right. Sans knew he was right. He didn’t know what was getting  _ into _ him, those pirates killed Hearth’s entire crew. Captured Sans’ entire family.  _ Threatened _ to kill Sans.

 

But they  _ saved Papyrus. _   
  
“That’s a really bad idea…” Grillby muttered out, but Papyrus looked at him, at the elemental, with big, pleading eyes. And Sans got up with a groan, rubbing his palms over his face at how  _ insane _ he was being.

 

“he saved papyrus,” Sans uttered out. “either of you got some rope?”

  
  


Hearth came back with a bunch of vines, his expression serious. “We have vines, i’m going down, hold me up?” Hearth asked, twisting the vines together to make a stronger vine, tying one end to himself.

 

Reaper looked at them dumbfounded, his brother’s scythes and chain in his hands loosely, only gripping it a few times.

 

  
“Hearth… let’s think this ove-”   
  
“YES!” Papyrus interrupted Grillby quickly. “WE’LL HOLD YOU UP!  _ PLEASE _ HELP HIM!”

 

Sans didn’t reply, but he gave him a nod anyways, doubting he would be a lot of help, but refusing to let his brother do this alone.

 

Grillby let out a sigh. “Alright. But be safe, Hearth. Don’t risk your life for…  _ him. _ ”

  
  


Reaper got up, putting the chained scythes on a hook in his belt. “LET ME HELP.” He demanded, his eye sockets looked glassy, yet he stood tall.

 

“Sure.” Hearth said, before lowering himself down slowly, everyone else besides Gaster joining up to help, giving Hearth more rope the farther he went down.

 

The flame reached the injured pirate not that much longer, with a steady pace, he made it on record time. But when his eyes laid on Death’s prone form, he lost his breath. “Fuck…” He whispered.

 

Death looked up, straight at the flame, holding his head in pain. “i don’ need yer ‘elp.” He grumbled, which only sent a shiver down Hearth’s spine. His chest ached, soul pounding a million times a second, he felt light.

 

“Too bad.” Hearth whispered, grabbing onto the beautiful body, now laying on his chest with the skull cradled on his shoulder. Fuck.

 

This monster killed his crew!

 

_ His body was so small… _

 

He destroyed his ship!

 

_ It felt like heaven holding him.... _

 

He got you stranded!!

 

_ He looks so  _ **_beautiful_ ** _! _

 

“I got him!!” Hearth called above, “Pull us up!”

  
  


“PULL!!!” Papyrus repeated to the others, before they began pulling up the vines again, each and every one of them anxiously awaiting to see Hearth on solid ground again. It was a matter of several minutes. Sans’ arms were starting to grow weak, Grillby had trouble keeping himself upright, his leg pounding in pain. But they did it. They pulled Hearth up, Death in his arms, and as soon as they were on ground Papyrus let go of the vines, rushing up to the elemental to put an arm around him to drag him further from the cliff.

  
“THANK YOU!!!” He told him without hesitation, gratitude heavy in his voice. “THANK YOU, THANK YOU,  _ THANK YOU! _ ”

  
  


Reaper zoomed towards them, snatching his brother from Hearth’s hold, only meeting a bit of resistance, the flames hold didn’t seem to want to let go quite yet. “BROTHER!!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?” 

 

Death looked up and patted Reaper’s cheek, nodding, even if the movement made him groan. “ugh, yea…” The response made Reaper sigh in relief, before surrounding Death in a bear hug.

 

“THANK YOU! THANK YOU  _ SO  _ MUCH!” Reaper called, his face buried into Death’s shoulder, he didn’t really know who to look at when saying these words, not sure who he was thanking really. His brother for coming out alive, Hearth for going down there, the others for helping, any gods out there that took pity on them besides Reaper not believing in them. He didn’t care, he was just glad his brother was still with him.

 

Hearth watched the scene with wide eyes, unsure how to react to seeing this side of the most dangerous pirates, that have just sunk his ship, killed his men, kidnapped Gaster and Papyrus and all the horror displays they made. They looked like normal monsters right now. Not the most sadistic pirate brothers ever in history. 

  
  


Grillby limped over to Hearth quickly, placing a hand on his shoulder silently, so glad that he was still okay. “...You’re going to get yourself killed trying to help others one of these days,” he sighed out tense and stressed with worry, though there was a slight chuckle in his voice. 

  
  


Hearth pulled Grillby close to him, so their faces were close. “Grillby…” He said, serious as his life depended on it. “I found my soulmate….” He whispered, eyeing Death like he was a hidden stash of treasure he just found after a long tiring adventure. “I’m in love…”

  
  


“...What?” Grillby asked, genuinely confused for a moment, before he followed Hearth’s eyes over to the monster he rescued. To the pirate… “Oh no,” he breathed out. “No, no, Hearth, come on. There’s so many monsters out there that  _ aren’t _ the most wanted and feared pirates…” 

 

He respected and cared for his friend so much, and usually, literally any other time, Grillby would support him. Would be happy for him, heck, even help him if he could.

 

But  _ really. _ Out of every monster - no -  _ person _ on this planet, he had to choose one of the  _ reaper brothers? _

 

“Hearth…  _ why? _ ”

  
  


“I… I  _ felt  _ it! The thing granny Ember told us about! In here!” Hearth’s hand went to his chest, looking at Grillby with a bright and unbelievably happy look. They had been friends since childhood, so they heard stories together of things like true love and creatures of the deep. But she told them about how your soul might pound like crazy, loss of breath, feeling light, and all these heavenly feelings at just  _ looking  _ at someone you would love deeply, truly. That you would be hopelessly in love with them, no matter what they do. She called them soulmates, and promised Grillby and Hearth would meet them one day.

 

“Grillby… oh lord Grillby… I’m in  _ deep _ .” Hearth groaned.

  
  


Oh why did he have to bring granny Ember into this… How could he stop Hearth when he brought up granny Ember’s old stories…

 

“You’re absolutely insane,” Grillby sighed out. “A lost cause. Oh god. What did you get yourself into, Hearth…”

 

“I’m… really glad everyone’s safe,” Gaster finally called out as he was watching his son’s reunite, Grillby and Hearth talk about something that seemed to be a private matter. “But we should really leave… Before we’re going to regret saving the pirate.”

  
  


“NO NEED.” Reaper called back. “AS THANKS FOR HELPING MY BROTHER, WE’LL LET YOU LIVE. KEEP THE CHILD, I DON’T CARE ANYMORE.” Reaper got up, holding Death’s arm as he got up as well, before turning away.

 

“EVEN IF I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU WOULD AFTER ALL WE HAVE DONE, I THANK YOU ALL. WE’LL BE LEAVING NOW.” Reaper nodded, guiding his brother back from where they came, grabbing the two bags on the way. Death huffed, annoyed, turning back to give Papyrus a nod before going along with his brother.

 

“W-wait!” Hearth called, making the Reaper brother’s turn back, tense and ready for a fight.

 

“You sunk my ship! We can’t go anywhere anymore! We need a ship! We’re coming with you!” He got up to his feet, even if it was a bit wobbly when he saw Death turn to look at him.

 

“what….?”

 

“WHAT…?” 


	8. you called for help, no one came.

Both brothers looking at each other then back at Hearth. “do ya  _ want  _ ta die? ya really think comin’ with  _ us  _ is a brigh’ idea?” Death scoffed, glaring at the flame, even if his eyes were unseen.

  
  


“ _ Hearth, _ ” Grillby hissed out tensely, quiet. “Are you  _ really _ sure about this?” Grillby hoped, so deeply, that Hearth was going to say no, he’d been wrong after all. Death  _ wasn’t _ his soulmate and they could find another way back…

 

But he knew this wasn’t going to happen. Hearth wouldn’t just call anyone his soulmate. And as much as the idea of going with the pirates was insane… Grillby wasn’t going to let him go alone. He knew Hearth would do the same for him.

  
  


“Yes I’m sure, we don’t have a ship anymore, this is the only way out of this island!” Hearth called back, Reaper humming in doubt.

 

“WELL, PUTTING A KIDNAPPED VICTIM BACK WITH THEIR CAPTORS ISN’T VERY HEALTHY. NOR IS IT TO VOLUNTEER TO BE ONE, OR VOLUNTEER EVERYONE ELSE.” Reaper mused.

 

“stockholm?” Death asked, looking up, unsure and maybe a little disgusted at them all. Purely at just being in the same space as them, and the idea of traveling with them.

 

“MAYBE.” Reaper hummed.

  
  


Grillby glanced from Hearth to the pirates, letting out a tense sigh. “No, Hearth is right,” he said. “We need a way to get off this island. We’re not your prisoners and we’re going to leave -” And he glanced at Hearth for the next part. “- as soon as we find people. Because staying any longer would be sure  _ suicide. _ ”

 

“ _ This _ is suicide! Are you two insane!?” Gaster asked both of the elementals. “What, you think you can just hitch a ride with two  _ pirates!? _ ”   
  
“DAD!!! BE NICE!” Papyrus chided with a frown, though he seemed skeptic about the situation, too. “ARE YOU SURE THERE’S NO ALTERNATIVE WAY…?”

 

“yea, sorry t’ burst your bubble, but i gotta agree with pops here,” Sans uttered out, mostly staring at the elementals in confused surprised. “followin’ those dudes doesn’t ‘xactly sound like the sanest plan.”

  
  


“‘o says we’ll let ya!!” Death screeched, annoyed by the whole situation.

 

“MY BROTHER IS RIGHT, WHY SHOULD WE JUST HELP YOU? YOU ALL ARE ON YOUR OWN.” Reaper huffed, pulling Death away and started their trip back to their ship. Once they were out of sight Hearth looked at them all. 

 

“And what other choice do we have? Stay here and rot?  _ No one  _ knows where we are! I’ll take my chances.” Hearth sped walked after the brothers, only stopping when he remembered Grillby’s hurt leg. “Are you coming with me?” Hearth asked Grillby, his voice becoming softer.

  
  


“What other choice do I have?” Grillby sighed out, but limped after Hearth with a small, resigned smile. “You know, I was wrong. You’re gonna get us  _ both _ hurt one of these days, you fool.” But his tone was soft and caring. He couldn’t believe they were actually doing this. Letting Hearth pick him up so they’d be able to move faster to catch up.

 

Papyrus was quick to follow them as well, dragging Sans with him as they were holding hands.

  
“hold up, pap!” Sans said quickly. “y’ really wanna go?”   
  
“WELL, I DON’T WANT TO STAY HERE THE REST OF MY LIFE,” Papyrus mused out. “AND THOSE TWO SEEM MORE CAPABLE THAN YOU OR DAD! NO OFFENSE.”   
  
“none taken.”   
  
“Hey…”   
  
“PLUS… THE BROTHERS MIGHT NOT BE ALL BAD…” The younger skeleton eventually muttered out, catching Gaster’s attention more.

 

“What do you mean?” Gaster asked concerned, like he was fearing the pirates had brainwashed him or something. “Papyrus, they  _ kidnapped us _ !”   
  
Papyrus was finally starting to follow up with the elementals, worried that they might lose them if they’d hang back too long, forcing Sans and Gaster to simply follow along.

 

“THEY DID! BUT THEY COULD’VE KILLED ME ANY TIME AND YET… THEY DIDN’T.” And Papyrus  _ still _ couldn’t think of a reason why, why they would let him live. They  _ said _ he was their pet, but… it just seemed so  _ weird. _ “THEY FED ME AND GAVE ME WATER… DAD, DEATH EVEN GOT HIMSELF INTO DANGER TO  _ SAVE _ ME!”

 

“This is insane!”   
  
“well, ‘ave fun being stuck alone on an island, ‘cause i see paps point.” Sans finally added himself. “at least the part of hearth an’ grillby bein’ more capable than us.”   
  
“ _ Hey! _ ” Gaster complained, annoyance stronger in his voice now. But he didn’t stop. Or argue anymore, unable to think of any more arguments aside from that this is  _ insane _ and  _ suicide. _ He saw their point. He hated it, but he saw their point. Even if Papyrus’ words stroke him as odd, didn’t make any sense.   
  
He wasn’t going to let his sons alone either way.

  
  


They caught up to the brothers in no time, who have been stopping to pick berries from a bush. Death groaned when he saw them come near. “da ya mind?” He asked, making Reaper look up in surprise.

 

“ARE YOU… ARE YOU REALLY FOLLOWING US?” Looking completely dumbstruck and… shocked.

 

“Yes.” Hearth answered, serious.

 

“why?” Death asked, looking at them skeptically. 

  
  


“We’re fools with no other choice,” Grillby sighed out.

 

“WE’RE LOST OUT HERE AND DON’T WANT TO DIE!” Papyrus added, a lot more chipper than the other two. He let go of Sans’ hand to run up to the pirates, Sans calling a startled, “ _ paps, no! _ ” After him. But Papyrus ignored him.

 

“CAN I HELP YOU??? I’LL TRY NOT TO FALL DOWN ANY CLIFFS THIS TIME!”

  
  


Death burst out laughing, putting his hands on his knees for support. Reaper on the other hand just sighed out a light laugh, crossing his arms. “IF YOU SO WISH, NOW WHAT WERE YOU SAYING ABOUT THOSE BERRIES?”

 

“dis time don’ go in front of us.” Death advised, wiping his hidden eyes. They both made space between themselves for Papyrus to walk in between them.

  
  


“AH… WELL…” Papyrus was feeling a lot more nervous talking with all those monsters around all of the sudden. But he had also felt so proud of the little plan he had come up and had been so sure the pirates would like it… “YEW TREES ARE VERY POISONOUS… IF YOU’D FEED THEM TO YOUR VICTIMS, UHM…”

 

It was very quiet all of the sudden, many eyes on him in shock and surprise, disturbed and worried.

 

“UHM… IT CAN’T BE TOO MUCH OR THEY MIGHT JUST DIE, BUT… THE SYMPTOMS ARE VERY… PAINFUL.”

  
  


“ohhhh~” Death hummed, now looking out for the berries Papyrus pointed out before. “i like dat. it’ slow ‘ight? slow ‘nd painful!?” Death looked up at Papyrus’ face, grinning madly.

 

“I TOLD YOU KEEPING HIM WOULD BE FUN!” Reaper giggled, patting Papyrus’ head lightly. Earning a scoff from Death.

 

“ya said no such thin’ ya liar!”

 

But it was drowned out with Reaper muttering if they needed to have another pouch to put the other berries in, purposely ignoring his brother.

  
  


Papyrus was like a happy puppy, being told he was a good boy. “IT’S NOT SLOW IF YOU OVERDOSE IT, BUT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SLOW DOWN THE EFFECT IF YOU GIVE SMALLER DOSES OVER AN EXTENDED TIME!”

 

“paps, what the heck?” Sans finally asked, voicing out all of their concerns. “how do you  _ know _ that?”   
  
“HUH? WELL, YEW IS KNOWINGLY POISONOUS, AND THE REST JUST MAKES SENSE!” Papyrus explained, innocently, like he couldn’t quite tell what was wrong with that.

  
  


Hearth raised his brow and turned to look at Gaster for answers. The man  _ was  _ his father and was an inventor, he had to have  _ some  _ knowledge to how Papyrus got ahold of this.

 

Reaper only started to mutter in thought, already designing a plan to how they would get someone to eat something, or maybe smearing it on blades and stick the tip in people’s mouths.

  
  


“I… well…” Gaster didn’t know what to say either. “I didn’t think…  _ that’s _ what he’d learn from my books…” They had been educational books, not guides on how to poison and torture someone! This one  _ wasn’t _ on him!

  
  


They didn’t question Gaster further, the Reaper brother’s ignoring the others in favor of Papyrus, who was rambling about other things. It was nice. Reaper and Death felt some sort of ease with him. Papyrus seemed happy talking to them, telling them all he knew, even looked happy when they approved of one of his suggestions.

  
  


Papyrus was still walking with the reaper brothers, finally asking all the questions he has had as their captive, but never got to ask them before. The others were… concerned, definitely. Worried. And Sans had ended up sticking close to Hearth and Grillby, tense, so he would be ready if anything would happen any moment.

 

But nothing did.

 

So no one really stepped in.

 

Papyrus was simply completely consumed into his own world. “AND WHAT ABOUT THOSE METAL PERCHES?” He asked, without even giving the reaper brothers time to answer his previous questions. “I’VE NOTICED THEM AROUND THE SHIP - THEY’RE FOR MOBILITY, AREN’T THEY??? DID YOU ATTACH THEM YOURSELF OR WAS THE SHIP CUSTOM MADE BY SOMEONE? HAVE YOU EVER WORKED TOGETHER WITH SOMEONE??? YOU  _ MUST _ HAVE STARTED OUT SOMEWHERE, RIGHT!?”

  
  


Reaper was chuckling at most of the things Papyrus asked, never really realizing someone noticed little details like that about their ship, but he didn’t bother trying to answer, giving up from the beginning when Papyrus kept going even when Reaper was actually trying to answer.

 

Death had his hands in his pocket, grinning from ear to ear every so often when something funny or interesting Papyrus said about them, perhaps for the meaning behind the thing Papyrus was asking about, or some things they didn’t notice themselves they do.

 

But the smile turned tense soon after, a second later his arm shot behind Papyrus, to his brother. He pressed his hand to Reaper’s side, doing some sort of hand motions, Reaper tensed in response, then he shot his own hand up. Over Papyrus’ head right before a coconut fell, would have landed on the young monster’s head if not for his hand. Reaper flicked his wrist to send the coconut flying, before both brothers quickly put their hands down once again, like nothing happened when Papyrus turned to regard them.

 

They shrugged when asked about the things Papyrus asked of them, Death replying that he should give them time to answer if he  _ really  _ wanted to know. Both Reaper brother’s laughing at Papyrus’ apologies. 

  
  


While Papyrus stayed completely oblivious, the others sure… didn’t. They had seen what just happened, the practically soundless and perfect communication, the spot-on reflexes. The way they just  _ protected _ Papyrus from getting hurt. 

 

“Sans, are you sure your brother was…  _ kidnapped _ by them…?” Grillby question, about as confused as any of them were.

 

“i… i don’ know what’s going on either,” the skeleton muttered out quietly. But Papyrus seemed to be having so much fun. And despite how… disturbing everything was about the pirates, they… seemed so nice to his brother as well.

 

“They’re playing with us,” Gaster huffed out. “Some weird mind games. Don’t trust them.”

  
  


“What do they have to gain? We are at their mercy, what mind games do they even want to play? They let Papyrus stay  _ unaware  _ of it too!” Hearth whispered, looking as confused as everyone else might be, looking at Grillby for anything.

  
  


“...He’s right,” Grillby muttered out to the royal inventor. “They’ve already got Papyrus wrapped around their finger, and they don’t seem to be caring about any of us either way.”   
  


Gaster was taken aback, almost feeling cornered when both the monsters stroke down his words so easily. “I… You’re… They’re  _ pirates. _ You  _ must _ have seen what they’ve done to the people they-”   
  
“can we not -” Sans interrupted his father, voice low and strained. “- talk about this? don’ exactly wanna… relive that shit…”

  
  


They stopped to pick the berries Papyrus had suggested also finding some bananas and coconuts from the trees when they spotted some, forming a little pouch with the leaves and vines for the poisonous plants and berries they found. “why da obsession, if i didn’ know bed’er, i’d say ya wanna be a pirate too.” Death laughed, clearly teasing the poor monster.

 

Reaper paid them no mind, climbing down the tree with three coconuts. “WE SHOULD BE ALMOST DONE, MAYBE WE SHOULD GRAB SOME FISH TOO?” Getting a hum of approval from his brother.

  
  


“OH! OH!!!” Papyrus gasped immediately, running up to Death excitedly. “DO YOU MIND SHOWING ME HOW TO CATCH FISH??? I SAW YOU DO IT EARLIER AND IT SEEMED TO COME SO EASY TO YOU!!!”

 

“‘cause they’re murder machines…” Sans muttered out, only to get a chiding glare back from Papyrus.

 

“I AM SURE IT IS ACTUALLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE SPENT MANY YEARS LIVING ON THEIR OWN AND LEARNED THE SKILLS NEEDED TO DO SO!”

  
  


Death ignored the other skeleton and his comment, only bothering to waste his time with Papyrus. “ya want me ta teach ya?” Death asked, a little confused over the very idea of someone that isn’t his brother asking to teach them something. “why ya want me to?” He got up when his brother went next to him to open the bag where the edible berries are stored, placing the coconuts in the same bag and letting Death put his berries in too.

 

“YOU SURE ARE A STRANGE KID.” Reaper mused, hoisting the bloody bag where the animals they caught over his shoulder, and the smaller bag with the berries, coconuts and bananas on his belt.

  
  


“WELL, I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO IT, TOO!!!” Papyrus chirped excitedly. “I MIGHT NOT EVER AGAIN GET AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THAT, FOR TWO MONSTERS AS SKILLED AS YOU TO TEACH ME!”

  
  


Death shrugged in response, looking at Reaper with an uncaring expression before walking ahead. “guess we gonna find us a river.” He mused, waving Papyrus along.

 

Hearth bent a little to Sans, keeping Grillby in mind in his arms. “Is one of the Reaper brothers  _ really  _ gonna teach a little kid to fish?” A little unbelievably, switching between looking at Sans and Grillby before just staring at Death.

 

God he is so cute.

 

And sweet. 

 

And adorable.

 

I want him…

  
  


“i… wow… i guess so?” Sans replied in utter shock. He wasn’t even sure anymore at this point if the reaper brothers got Papyrus tied around their fingers, or if maybe Papyrus got  _ them _ tied around his clever little finger.  But whichever it was it was… a very weird thing to watch his little brother excitedly follow Death to find a river. 

 

Grillby had to agree with him, even if he wasn’t aware of it. The more he got to watch the pirates interact with Sans’ younger brother, the less they actually seemed like the guys that had sunk Hearth’s ship…

 

But… they still  _ were _ those people…

 

Gaster was the only one who wouldn’t voice out or show any doubt of their cruelty. He simply followed up, quietly, almost pouting. He’s  _ seen _ what they did to his crew. They separated him from his son. No matter how nice they might act now,  _ they weren’t good people. _

  
  


They found a river not that long after, Death not even bothering to pull up his coat that dragged on the ground, unhooking his two mini scythes and handing one to Papyrus, the chain long enough for them both to have freedom to move around as they pleased. 

 

Even Reaper was slightly surprised that Death allowed Papyrus to borrow his weapon, even if Death was holding the other half. To tell the truth, Death was surprised himself, it just seemed so natural, so he didn’t question it.

 

“kay, come ‘ere.” Death commanded, waving Papyrus over to stand in the middle of the shallow river with him.

  
  


Papyrus followed quickly with a nod, pulling up the legs of his pants a bit, before going into the river where Death instructed him to stay. He held the scythe tightly in one of his hands, copying the way Death was holding it, though not actually knowing what he was doing.

 

“...be careful, pappy!” Sans called over to his brother, though not wanting to follow them into the river. He still kept an eye on them.

 

And so did Gaster, though he was being a lot less positive about this, and as soon as he saw Death holding one of those deathblades, he grew even more tense. “Don’t  _ dare _ to hurt my son!” He called over to them, only for Grillby to let out a stressed, quiet groan, hiding his face in Hearth’s hold.

 

“He  _ really _ doesn’t understand he’s  _ no _ threat to them…”

  
  


And Grillby was correct, because Reaper walked behind Gaster and quickly placed his own mini scythe right over Gaster’s throat, hovering shy from touching him. Reaper’s other hand went around Gaster to hold him still, while he bent his head down so it was right next to Gaster’s skull. “NOW MY BROTHER HAS DONE NO SUCH THING TO HURT HIM, HELL HE’S EVEN  _ TEACHING  _ HIM, BUT YOU SHOUTING OUT DEMANDS AT US LIKE YOUR THREATS ARE WORTH A  _ DAMN  _ IS REALLY PISSING US OFF.” Reaper hissed.

 

“NOW I SUGGEST YOU PLAY NICE OR WE  _ WILL  _ HURT YOUR SON,  _ JUST  _ BECAUSE YOU DECIDED TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH.” His voice was dark and sinister, almost growling at the other skeleton. Reaper made sure he said it loud enough for Sans and the other two flames to hear, while also watching Death distract Papyrus, keeping him oblivious to what is happening on the side.

  
  


Gaster choked on his breath, voice small and terrified. “I- I’m sorry!”

 

“please…” Sans breathed out, tense and eyes wide as he watched them, almost frozen in place in fear, but that didn’t keep him from talking. “don’ hurt paps ‘cause our  _ dad’s _ an idiot!”

 

“ _ Sans, _ ” Grillby hissed out stressed, really just wishing this family of idiot skeletons would know when to keep their mouth shut sometimes…

  
  


“HMMM,” Reaper hummed in thought, looking at Sans curiously. “I NOTICED… THAT YOU ONLY SEEM TO CARE ABOUT PAPYRUS, BUT EVERY TIME YOUR FATHER IS IN DANGER, EVEN IN FRONT OF YOU. YOU ONLY CARE FOR YOUR BROTHER’S SAFETY. WHY IS THAT?” 

 

It kind of reminded Reaper of his own brother, how if Reaper was in any remote danger his brother would only have sights on him and him alone, no matter who is also in the way.

  
  


“tha’s not- w-well…!” Sans was speechless, stammering. He felt like he got caught red handed. “‘s not like i don’ care ‘bout pops, ‘s just… he’s a grown ass man. ‘e should know better than to get ‘imself into trouble! paps ‘s just my baby brother…”   
  


It wasn’t like Sans wasn’t going to act when his dad was in trouble. Like he didn’t care about Gaster. But if Gaster was getting  _ Papyrus _ in trouble, he might as well perish for all Sans cares. That one’s completely on him.

  
  


“BEING A CHILD GIVES  _ NO ONE  _ A FREEBEE, LIFE IS TOO CRUEL FOR AGE.” Reaper said, his tone having gotten a few notches darker, like he was hiding a dark truth, a leader or someone of high power not telling their followers or soldiers a very dark a crucial detail.

 

Reaper remembers the children they slaughtered, all the times they were told ‘they are just a child!’. Remembering how no one said it for  _ their  _ behalf. 

  
  


Sans swallowed in fear, but his stare hardened a little at the words. “yea, so maybe it doesn’t, but ‘t only gives me more a reason to protect him. if life’s too cruel to give paps a freebie,  _ i  _ will. i’ll give him as many as i can, an’ if it costs my damn life!”

 

He knew this was getting him more worked up than it should, but the idea, the  _ mere idea _ of Sans doing  _ anything _ but to protect Papyrus with his life felt simply insulting to him. 

 

“i ‘dunno wha’ your problem with children is,  _ but keep papyrus out of it. _ ”

  
  


Reaper went slack, the blade kept close to Gaster’s throat slowly went back to his side, then being hooked back onto his belt. “I… YOU....” Reaper whispered, completely dumbfounded.

 

“WOW…” He said finally, staring at Sans with something in his eyes, bending down to look at Sans’ face at eye level. “YOU… REALLY FEEL THAT WAY FOR HIM?” His voice laced with wonder and maybe… admiration. 

  
  


Sans took a small, startled step back, trying not to show he was shaking.

 

“ _ ‘course _ i do! he’s my baby brother.”

  
  


Reaper nodded dumbly, before standing straight, looking at Death and Papyrus, both in position and waiting for a fish to come close. “WOW… THAT IS… SOMETHING. I WISH WE COULD HAVE HAD SOMEONE LIKE YOU WHO COULD OF SAID THAT FOR US WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN…” He whispered, walking away slowly, his hand over the scarf on his mouth, looking down in wonder.

 

‘They are just kids!’ 

 

Huh, wonder how much that would have helped him and his brother if one would have just said it for them.


	9. hearth don't put your dick in that...

Sans was still watching Reaper, stare hard and tense, not sure what to make out of his words. But he didn’t exactly get a lot of time to think about them either, as a hand at the back of his collar quickly pulled him back to Grillby and Hearth.

 

“I can’t believe I have to tell you this,” Grillby hissed out, voice low and tense. “But next time; Don’t. Argue. With. The  _ Pirates. _ Please?”

  
  


Hearth snorted at his friends words, not believing how ridiculous it sounded. “Yeah, I’d prefer to live thank you.” He had put Grillby down at one point when they reached the river, keeping a bit away from the river while holding Grillby up with an arm.

  
  


“i jus’ was defendi-  _ ow! _ ” Grillby had gently hit the skeleton on the back of his skull, glaring at him like an upset mother.

 

“No arguing! Not with the pirates. And especially not with us! That’s the least you owe us for saving your ass.”   
  
Papyrus meanwhile stayed completely oblivious to any of this. He was staring down at the water, waiting for any movement of fish to react as instructed. It took quite a while for… well.  _ Anything _ to happen. But after that while Papyrus was sure he saw movement under the water surface, quickly slashing down with the scythe, creating a big splash of water that conveniently didn’t hit him… Only to come up empty handed. Or, well. Empty scythed.

 

“AWW! I WAS  _ SURE _ I HAD IT!”

  
  


Death screeched beside him, stepping away quickly from the unsuspecting water that hit him. He heard his brother nearby gasp and wheeze with laugher, calling out to him “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?! YOU *GASP* SOUND LIKE A GIRL! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Death’s face lit up as he huffed and glared at his brother. “shut up!” Before facing Papyrus with that same glare, but this time he had a mad grin. Before anyone knew anything, Death splashed Papyrus with water, crying out a victorious “ha!”

  
  


Papyrus yelped startled, raising his arms to shield himself from the water, though it didn’t really make a difference in the end. It took him a moment to register what had just happened. What was going on. Before he finally figured this out as a  _ declaration of war. _

 

“YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!!!” Papyrus cried out, before splashing more water at Death several times, ducking in case he was going to get hit by water as well any moment.

  
  


Reaper quickly put his food bags down and hooked his finger to the chain that was gently going down the river, pulling so both monsters let go and won’t get hurt. Watching Death gasp and splash Papyrus. 

 

Hearth gasped and moved himself and Grillby away from the play fight, but also looking in awe as Papyrus, a little kid, played in the river with a murdering merciless pirate. They both acted like little kids, both laughing and splashing each other like friends or family would do in a hot summer day. Reaper even took the scythe away so they wouldn’t get hurt, like a guardian would!

 

Were these really the Reaper brothers?

  
  


“What’s… going on there?” Grillby asked absolutely shocked at the development. Of course he knew  _ what _ was going on, but…  _ how? _

 

Meanwhile Sans couldn’t help himself but to laugh at the display, hesitantly at first, before fully once he realized his brother and Death were actually going all out. He was sitting on the ground close to Grillby and Hearth, hands raised into the air as he cheered for his brother.

 

“you show him, papyrus!” He called out loudly, getting a proud grin back from Papyrus, before he got hit in the face by a splash of water.

  
  


Reaper huffed as his hands went to his hips like a scolding mother. “WHAT ARE YOU TWO, CHILDREN?!” He called, making both of them look up at him in shock and confusion. Before looking at each other, Death giving Papyrus a knowing grin.

  
  


Papyrus didn’t need to ask to know what Death was thinking and gave him a readied nod as well, before focusing back on their shared target.

  
  


Death nodded, before both of them threw water at Reaper, making him scream. Death laughed at his flabbergasted brother, his face was priceless. “wha da hell was dat bro? ya sound like a gi’rl~” He mocked his brother’s words, laughing.

 

Reaper pulled a face before he dropped everything he didn’t want to get wet, then charge at them. “YOU WILL REGRET THIS!!”

 

Death squealed and pushed Papyrus to get him to start running. “run!!!” Death called, starting to run as best he could with the water hindering him.

  
  


Papyrus let out a playful screech, before quickly turning and running as well. Though he was taller and faster than Death, the water not giving as much resistance to his long legs than it did to Death’s stout body. So he stopped, only shortly, picking up the short pirate, before continuing to run.

  
“I’VE GOT YOU, DEATH!!! DON’T WORRY!” He said, while running from the other reaper brother.

  
  


Death burst out laughing, muttering gibberish from the complete shock of Papyrus just picking him up like that.

 

Hearth choked on his spit, looking between Grillby and Sans. “Are you fucking seeing what  _ I’m  _ seeing! Holy shit Papyrus is  _ carrying _ him!!” He said quickly, the very thought was unbelievable, not to mention seeing it, it made the poor flame’s breath quicken. Lucky bastard. Hearth would like to hold Death, maybe do a little bit more…

  
  


“Easy, Hearth,” Grillby muttered out under his breath, though really. The sight  _ was _ unbelievable. Sure. It wasn’t too far off to think of that someone as tall as Papyrus  _ could _ pick up someone as short as Death, but… The fact that Death was letting himself get carried. That Papyrus wasn’t scared in the least.

 

Sans was… probably the one to be on board with this the most. Really, he mostly just wasn’t thinking about it too much, instead just laughing at the sight of his baby brother being so happy. It  _ looked _ like fun. Almost enough for Sans to join in, if he wouldn’t be too lazy to and also very content with being dry.

 

Gaster meanwhile was still sitting where he’d been when Reaper threatened him, watching them from a little further afar, both of his hands covering his mouth as his eyes followed his son in absolute fear. At this point all he wanted was for his sons to be  _ safe. _

  
  


Papyrus and Death avoided Reaper as best they could, splashing him when having the chance, getting splashed when they fell behind. It ended off with Reaper slipping, a fish in his coat, making him dance around until he managed to pull it out. Death was in tears at the very sight, but leaned too far to one side, making Papyrus drop him.

 

Death broke the surface with a fish in his mouth, making  _ Reaper  _ laugh to tears.

 

“at least we got da fish…” Death looked up at Papyrus with a lopsided smile, fish now in his hand.

  
  


They got back to land together, with Papyrus claiming he was disappointed he didn’t get to catch a fish himself, though he really couldn’t hide his big, still giddy smile. He got back onto land, quickly stripping off his coat and shirt to wring the water out of them, before putting them back on, even if they were still pretty moist. Hoh boy. At least it wasn’t winter.

 

“‘ad fun?” Sans asked, walking up to Papyrus, though keeping his distance to avoid getting pulled into a very wet surprise hug.

 

“I DID!!! DID YOU SEE HOW WE BOTH SPLASHED REAPER TOGETHER???” Papyrus asked proudly, Sans nodding along.

  
“i did!” 

  
  


Reaper and Death went to the bags left on shore, snapping the fishes heads around so they would stop struggling, then place them in the blooded bag. “THAT WAS FUN.”

 

“ye, ‘o knew d’ere could be fun thin’s besides torture.” Death giggled, letting his brother take all the bags to carry. Nodding when his brother told him that they should get a move on.

 

Death and Reaper walked ahead wordlessly, both not bothering to take off their clothes to rig it out, rather walk around still dripping.

  
  


The others followed up as well, Sans and Papyrus closest to the pirates, though Hearth and Grillby not very far… Maybe a little farther, just to make sure no water would hit them.

 

But Gaster didn’t care about the water at all. He ran up to them quickly, pulling Papyrus into a hug, while they kept walking like this, the young skeleton laughing surprised.

 

“Oh, Pappy! Are you okay? Are you hurt!?” Gaster asked, only to get a confused chuckle back, Papyrus shaking his head no.

 

“I’M ALRIGHT, DAD, DON’T WORRY!” He assured him quickly. “WE WERE JUST PLAYING!!!”

  
  


Reaper and Death were a bit ahead, but they heard just fine, Death rolling his eyes while Reaper scoffed, deciding to ignore Gaster as much as possible. “dat ‘ventor dude is gonna be trouble fer us…” Death mused, looking up at his tall brother.

 

Reaper nodded in agreement, frowning under his blood red scarf. “HE CAN’T STAY WITH US, BROTHER.”

 

“d’ere not even gonna get on our ship, i don’ even know why d’ere followin’.” Death grumbled, getting his chained scythes back from his brother, using them to cut the way back to their ship.

 

“DIDN’T WE ALREADY SAY NO?” Reaper asked, moving behind his brother to follow his lead. 

 

“ye.” Death grumbled, barely even a word and more of a noise of annoyance. But Reaper has been around his brother long enough to know what he meant to say.

 

-

 

Hearth held Grillby close, while looking at Death’s back. “He’s playful, he has sass, he is  _ protective  _ to a little kid he met not that long ago. Grillby, he is so cute!” He was only loud enough for Grillby to hear, but his passion was in full force. He looked at Death with doe eyes, sparkling with something fierce. 

  
  


Grillby found himself chuckling softly at his friends gushing, a hand on Hearth’s back for his own support. “You’ve really got it bad, huh?” He asked Hearth, following his gaze towards Death. But he couldn’t disagree with any of Hearth’s points.

 

Death had showed to be protective of Papyrus. Had been willing to teach the kid. Had played with him. And he was… very cute.

 

“Don’t forget he’s still a pirate,” Grillby whispered out, though, his voice more somber, both to bring Hearth as well as himself back to earth. “We can’t stay with him -  _ either _ of them - for too long. They’re still a danger…” 

  
  


“Did you notice how cute his figure is! You can see it now that his clothes are hugging him now!” Hearth’s eyes raked over the small form, biting his lip while a trail of drool slow slid to his chin. He didn’t catch a word Grillby said…

  
  


“so, what’re the two of you whisperin’ about?” Sans whispered up at the two elementals as he sneaked up next to them, needing only little space.

 

“...Nothing of your concern,” Grillby muttered, though Sans shook only his head in disappointment.

 

“d’aww, don’ be like that. hit a pal up.”

  
  


“Death is the most cutest most beautiful thing I ever laid my eyes on.” Hearth sighed, even his voice sounded love sick. “His accent is adorable, his figure is  _ so  _ fine, he’s smart and ohhh so amazing~” Hearth almost groaned.

 

“God I want him so bad!” If he continued to bite his lip then he might actually hurt himself. “Sans! Just look at that body and tell me you  _ don’t  _ want to pound into him!” He pointed at the wet body in front of them, slightly swaying hips, curvy smooth figure.

  
  


Sans glanced at Hearth in shock, like he was expecting him to add some kind of punchline. Then glanced over to Death in the desperate hope he might get the joke if he would. But he didn’t. And finally he looked up at Grillby.

 

“ _ tell me he’s joking. _ ”   
  
But Grillby shook his head no. “I’m afraid not,” he sighed out. “Been trying to talk him out of this, but… he’s absolutely head over heels.”   
  
“oh god,” Sans breathed out, his voice rough and shocked. Though then he placed his hand on Hearth, hoping to get his attention. “y’ve got some weird skeleton fetish, my man. weird, weird skeleton fetish.”

  
  


“B-but! But!” Heath whined, pointing at Death again. “Just  _ look  _ at him! Look at him and look at my face and tell me he isn’t so fucking hot!” Like Sans seeing Death could prove everything.

 

“He’s fucking gorgeous!!!”

  
  


Sans quirked a brow at Hearth questioningly, before glancing back to Death, deciding he might as well humor him.

 

“i ‘dunno man, he just looks kinda like me, but… without the big ass crack i guess, smoother bones.” He was gesturing oddly with his hands as he went on to describe the skeleton in question, keeping his voice low to not let the others know what they were talking about. “cute accent, nicer- ...ah fuck. i see what you mean.”

 

“ _ Really _ , Sans?” Grillby asked, his tone sounding almost like he’s been betrayed.   
  
“listen, man, he’s  _ got a point! _ ”

  
  


Hearth squeezed Grillby in his grasp. “Dude, just… Look at him, forget who he is for a second and look at him like any other person, someone you see in the streets or in your bed! Just  _ look  _ at him, man!” Hearth urged, motioning with his head.

  
  


Grillby huffed in Hearth’s hold, really rather  _ not _ wanting to forget who they were talking about. But he let out a tense sigh.

 

“...He’s cute,” he admitted, though that was as much as he was going to give him, and nothing more. “He’s  _ also _ a dangerous pirate, though, Hearth. As… cute as he might be, we can’t forget that.”

  
  


Hearth groaned, annoyed Grillby wouldn’t let loose, but he accepted the reply. “I’m going to fuck him, just you two watch me.” Hearth promised, staring into the sky like he is making eye contact with the gods witnessing his promise, finalizing it.

  
  


Grillby could only let out a desperate sigh at his friends behavior, hoping that whatever gods he just made eye contact with would come down to speak some sense into him. Sans was quiet next to them, but he was casually giving him a few pats on Hearth’s leg, like he was consoling him for rooting for something that was never going to happen.


	10. pfft, what's the point of dads?

Death was in a deep conversation with Papyrus, mostly about what amount of value Papyrus would gain for keeping someone like Gaster around, ignoring the older skeleton completely as they talked. “i mean, ‘e’s just slowin’ ya down ‘nd cry all da time! wha can ya possibly gain fer keepin’ em?” Death had his head turned sideways to be able to look at Papyrus as he walked, with Reaper walking to his right, a few steps behind his brother.

  
  


“WELL, HE DOESN’T USUALLY CRY AS MUCH, HE’S JUST VERY SCARED RIGHT NOW!” Papyrus mused out thoughtfully. “AND HE’S MY FATHER!!! HE LET’S ME READ THROUGH HIS BOOKS AND JOIN HIM WHENEVER HE GOES TO JOURNEYS… HE RAISED ME!!! SURE, MAYBE HE IS… DIFFICULT RIGHT NOW, BUT WE’RE IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION. HE WAS THERE FOR ME AS WELL WHEN I WAS BEING DIFFICULT AS A CHILD!”

 

He was musing over his words some more, before glancing at Death a little bit concerned, though trying to not let it show. “DO YOU NOT HAVE A FATHER?”

  
  


“nope.” Death dismissed, shrugging like it was no big deal, and it wasn’t.

 

“WE NEVER MET OUR PARENTS, SO DO FORGIVE US FOR NOT UNDERSTANDING.” Reaper had a touch of sarcasm in the last part, rolling his eyes. It really wasn’t that big of a deal that they never knew about parents and the connection to them, nor did they care.

 

Really, it would be more of a hinderous than any gain. Having someone boss them around. Ugh.

  
  


“OH. HUH,” Papyrus muttered out, though he decided to drop that topic. It didn’t seem like something he should push at the very moment. “WELL… BUT YOU HAVE EACH OTHER, RIGHT? IT’S LIKE THAT! KIND OF… DAD CARES FOR ME AND SOMETIMES HE CRIES AND IS WHINY, BUT IT’S OKAY, BECAUSE HE’S ONLY TRYING TO PROTECT ME! SAME GOES FOR SANS!”

 

“hey, i ain’t whiny,” Sans called over from the back, where he was still with Hearth and Grillby.

 

Gaster gave his older son a surprised glance, not having realized he was listening in as well. Though Gaster himself decided to stay quiet. He’d caused enough trouble already…

  
  


Reaper and Death stayed quiet, continuing on, up until Reaper called to Death with a cheery voice. “BYYYEE BROTHER!!~”

 

Death looked at his brother in confusion before he fell. Fell and disappeared. His long, high pitched, drawn out scream echoing in the tunnel he just fell into, making everyone hear him for miles.

 

They later saw him in the air flailing like his life depended on it further ahead, when the trees begin to clear and the beach and waterfalls appear. He was still screaming, even while he fell back down to earth. The tunnel having been curved to shoot him back up when he exited the mountain side, a huge splash could be heard soon after. 

 

The whole time Reaper was  _ consumed  _ with dying wheezing and tears, laughter taking any breath he managed to get.

  
  


“OH, WOWIE!!!” Papyrus exclaimed as he looked after where Death flew in the distance. “IS HE OKAY???” Though despite being the one to ask, he didn’t exactly seem like the most concerned.

 

Now Gaster meanwhile was staring at the pirate like had just seen an angel, but not the good ones media feeds you. The incomprehensible ones, the terrifying ones, the ones that would make your brain have a blackout.

 

What the hell just happened?

 

Sans seemed to be completely on board with Reaper, a hand on his mouth, the other on Hearth, as he was trying to hold in his wheezing laughter.

  
  


“HE’S FINE,” Reaper waved, now walking up to what looked like a tunnel that had the top part exposed and open, more of a slide than a tunnel. “THIS ONE IS DRY, I HAVE FOOD SO I WILL BE TAKING THIS ONE, I SUGGEST YOU TWO DO AS WELL.” He looked at the flames while saying that bit. 

 

“YOU THREE ON THE OTHER HAND, CAN FOLLOW MY BROTHER, IT WILL LEAVE YOU WET, YES, BUT DOESN’T IT LOOK FUN!”  Reaper laughed, looking at where they just saw Death fly high. “BYE BYE!” He chirped, before going down the dry slide himself, cheering in delight.

  
  


“SANS!! BROTHER!!!” Papyrus cheered excitedly. “LET’S TAKE THE WATER ONE!!! PLEASE!”

 

Sans glanced briefly at the two elementals he knew were going to opt for the dry one, before giving them a shrug. “see ya down there, i guess,” he said, before heading over to Papyrus, whom was already waiting at the slide, grabbing hold of Gaster’s sleeve on the way, before pushing him down first. Sans and Papyrus followed up quickly, their excited screams mixing with Gaster’s startled one.

  
  


Hearth took one look at Grillby before giving him a sheepish smile. He walked over to the slide Reaper took and slowly let himself slide down, putting Grillby in front of him, between his legs for safety. “Alright, let’s go them.” Before they slid off the steep hill. “Oh shi-!”

  
  


Grillby held his breath as they went down the slide, tense and not sure how he should feel about it. The others seemed to be enjoying themselves, they could hear the splash of the skeletons landing midway through their own ride. Though Grillby felt a little too vulnerable to actually relax for this, unable to await when they would catch up with the others.

 

Sans was hanging in Gaster’s arms when the skeleton family trotted out of the water, dripping wet, the young skeleton almost looking like a dead fish, water pouring out of his skull.

  
“That was very dangerous and irresponsible!” Gaster chided.

  
“AND FUN!!!” Papyrus added nonchalantly.

  
  


Death was laying face down close by, his arms and legs splayed out. It looked like the little waves had washed him up to shore, sand sticking to his wet form. He didn’t say anything nor did he move, limp.

 

Reaper wasn’t quiet there yet, his gleeful voice could be heard a ways back, where the slide ends.

  
  


Papyrus hopped up to the limp form in the sand curiously, squatting down to Death. “ARE YOU OKAY??? DO YOU NEED ME TO CARRY YOU AGAIN?”

 

“ _ Papyrus… _ ” Gaster said, his tone desperate and almost begging for his son to just back off. But he didn’t say anything else, and Papyrus ignored him anyway, while Sans just cleared his voice angrily, giving Gaster a warning.

  
  


“ya ‘re really gettin’ on everyones nerves, ‘ren’ ya old man?” Death chuckled at Gaster, moving his head up so he could see Papyrus. “‘ey kid, wha’ shakin’?” He grinned, only to glare at his brother when he saw him slide down the slide, looking very pleased with himself.

 

“AH, YOU'RE ALIVE BROTHER, THAT’S NICE.”

 

“haha.” Death said dryly. 

  
  


“haha. you’re old,” Sans commented quietly, only for Gaster to hear, who promptly let go of his son to drop into the sand. 

 

“I see you are in no more danger.”   
  
“cold,” Sans huffed out. “must be the age. bitter, old man.”   
  
“SANS, DON’T BE MEAN!” Papyrus told his brother once he heard the comments, but he couldn’t keep himself from snickering. He focused back to Death, offering the short skeleton a hand to help him up.

  
  


Death grinned, grabbing the hand, letting the child pull him back on his feet, but before Papyrus could, Death pulled him down so they were both lying flat on the sand. “thanks.” Death muttered, Reaper walking up to them calmly, like the scene meant nothing, with Hearth and Grillby finally appearing at the bottom of the slide.

 

“That wasn’t that bad.” Hearth laughed lightly, looking at Grillby disbelievingly. 

  
  


Grillby gave him a small hum of agreement, though he was mostly focused on the three skeletons lying flat on the ground. “Are you guys… okay?”   
  
“yea, jus’ chillin.”   
  
“NO!!!” Papyrus cried out dramatically. “I HAVE BEEN BETRAYED! WOUNDED! HEARTBROKEN!!!”

 

“well, paps gone through some shit.”

  
  


“hehehehehehehehe~” Death giggled evilly from the sand.

 

Reaper rolled his eyes, but looked over to the shore ahead, then…. “WHAT…?” What. the fuck…

 

“UM, BROTHER…. WHERE IS THE SHIP?”

 

Death lifted his head and looked around, confused, but his confusion doubled when he didn’t see their ship anywhere. “ummmm.”

 

“BROTHER…”

 

“ummm.”

 

The Reaper brother’s look at each other, before Reaper broke into a run, running around the shore line to his right to try and spot the ship.

 

“ya did an’kor it down, ‘ight?” Death called, getting up quickly before running after his brother.

  
  


Papyrus got up once he was alone in the sand, watching the brother’s concerned. And even Sans got up finally, trying to make sense of what they were saying, talking about.

 

“did… did you manage to lose a  _ ship? _ ” He asked, his voice skeptic and disbelieving. “how do you- it’s- it’s a  _ ship! _ ”

  
  


“IT WAS RIGHT HERE!!” Reaper called, pointing with both hands at the shore where there ship used to be.

 

“uhhh, bro?” Death asked hesidently, pointing a bit far off where they were. In the distance, their ship was being escorted by another, getting farther and farther away. 

 

Reaper looked at it for a moment, before letting out a high angry screech, giving chase soon after, cursing the whole way. Death scrambling to follow him. Hearth gasped, grabbing onto Grillby and following them as best as he could while carrying someone.

  
  


“Oh fuck,” Grillby breathed out once he realized what’s going on, peeking over Hearth’s shoulder to look at the skeletons hanging back. “Come on! Hurry up!” He called out, before Sans and Papyrus finally started dashing after them as well. Gaster, too, after a little bit of delay.

 

Grillby watched the skeletons catch up for a little bit, before glancing up at Hearth, feeling bad for making him carry him. But he knew asking Hearth to leave him behind or let him catch up in his own pace was… out of the question.

 

“Do… you think we can still catch up with the ship…?” He asked instead, having no real experience with sailing and ships. It was hard for him to tell.

  
  


“Look.” Hearth huffed at him, he was really putting his body through a work out. “The ship has to maneuver through islands that are close together, which means they have to take it slow, and those two.” He motions to Death and Reaper.

 

Who are booking it like there was no tomorrow, already miles ahead of them, “They’re fast, fast and angry. I think we can make it.” Hearth hummed. Yes, they had fast pirates ‘on their side’ and the environment is working for them, so Hearth thinks they have a good chance.

  
  


Grillby gave him a small nod, deciding not to question it any more. Hearth seemed positive they could make it and that was enough for him. Besides, making him talk when he was already running and carrying him had maybe been a little unfair.

 

Speaking of which…

 

“I THINK I CAN TAKE HIM OFF YOU FOR A LITTLE BIT, IF YOU NEED A BREAK!” Papyrus offered. He had run up next to the two, looking at Hearth questioning. He wasn’t quite as big and strong as Hearth, or even Reaper, but he thought he could still carry the smaller elemental for at least a little bit.

  
  


“Kid.” Hearth smiled at him warmly. “I appreciate it, but I don’t think you can carry someone taller than you  _ and  _ run at the same time. Don’t worry about us, alright?” He gave Papyrus a winning smile, one that screamed ‘everything's going to be okay’.

  
  


Papyrus still thought he could carry Grillby, but he gave Hearth a nod, dropping behind a little again to fall in step with Sans, who was hanging way back. If he can’t help Hearth and Grillby, he might as well carry Sans, who seemed to be having enough trouble himself.

 

And that’s what he did, swiftly picking his brother up into his arms, whom quickly wrapped his arms and legs around Papyrus. Together they caught up with Hearth and Grillby again, Gaster staying very close as well.

  
  


Reaper and Death were very much ahead of them, but they were gaining on the ship, not slowing at all. They could even hear Reaper’s cursing from all the way over here, it was filled with frustration and anger.

 

They kept at this for what seemed like hours, but was really almost one. By the time Reaper and Death caught up, they threw their mini scythes to hook on the metal latches around the ship, before pulling themselves up.

 

“ey, get off our ship!” Death growled, making all the monsters and humans on board look at them in shock. Reaper was not far behind him, eye sockets looking murderous and hollow.

 

“Ey, don’t kill my crew!” A voice from the other ship called. Making both Reaper and Death look at the monster in question. 

 

“YOU!”


	11. slapping your title around makes people want to slap you

Both of the boats started to slow once Death and Reaper made it on, before they came to a complete stop. Hearth sighed in relief, yet his pace didn’t slow, hurrying to the ship before it sets sail again.

  
  


Papyrus and Sans were apparently the first to catch up, Papyrus deciding to speed up once the ships were closer in sight. The taller skeleton was removing Sans from his chest and holding him in his two hands, startling the older brother a little.

 

“pap, what’re you doi-”   
  
“UP TOP!!!” The younger brother called out, before  _ tossing  _ Sans up and for the ship, Sans screaming in the process. And then screaming as Papyrus missed, Sans landing with his face against the wall of the ship, bouncing off and landing into the water.

  
“OOPSIES!!! ARE YOU OKAY, BROTHER?” Papyrus asked, quickly hurrying after Sans to pick him out of the water again.

 

“noooo,” Sans groaned out, though he didn’t actually seem hurt.

 

“Papyrus. Sans. Come here,” Gaster called, his voice sounding out of breath, but tense and serious enough for Papyrus to react, going back to his father with Sans in his arms again. “Stay close. We don’t know who… _ those _ people are.”

  
  


Some pirates looked from the side to see them on shore, whispering to each other and giving them judging looks. But it all broke when a laugh rang in the air.

 

A monster, the captain, if the clothes had anything to say, swung from the rope on one of the ships, landing on the shore gracefully. “Well hello there!” He called. He was a skeleton, with cracks that matched Gaster’s, but more rigid and less clean.

 

Death and Reaper were seen sitting on the deck railing, watching silently.

 

“It is a pleasure~” The captain purred, bowing dramatically. “I am captain Meister, how do you do?~”

  
  


“HELLO!!! I’M PAPY-”   
  
“Gaster,” the older skeleton interrupted his son, hand gently over Papyrus’ mouth. “The royal inventor. Under the protection of king Asgore himself.” His stare was hard, holding both his sons close, though Sans could tell he was shaking. He didn’t know who these people were.

 

Grillby was about as tense as Gaster was, though more observant. They had to have expected finding someone here by the time they reach the ships, yet this was still… a surprise.

 

He gave Hearth a pat on the shoulder, before pointing to the two reaper brothers, sitting on their own ship carelessly. “What does this mean?” He whispered out to the other flame, tense and nervous. Weren’t  _ they _ supposed to be the ones fighting? They’ve had a head start, he’d thought they would run into a fierce battle. Yet it was only the five of them that seemed tense in this situation.

  
  


Hearth grimaced, staring at the two brother’s calmly watch the scene. “I don’t know.” Hearth whispered, but what he  _ did  _ know was how annoyed they looked when Gaster gave his position and ruler, most likely they don’t like how Gaster seemed to use it like a defence. To scare people away from messing with him, either it worked so far before the Reaper brother’s, or the guy was just an idiot and used it every moment he could in hopes it would work.

 

“ya should stop usin’ yer position as some sort of leverage!” Death called from his perch, “no one cares ‘ere, in fact, dat would make ya da first one ta go~” Death smirked, the smile twisted and cruel.

 

“You know these people, Death? Are they your prisoners?” Meister looked up to see Death, using one hand to shield his eye sockets from the unforgiving sun. 

 

“uh, sure?” Death shrugged, Reaper was also unhelpful, looking away to the far off distance, whistling. 

 

The Meister tsked at them, looking pretty disappointed, “I trained you better than that! They’re not even tied up! What is this?” The other crew mates shrunk away from the scolding man, only Death and Reaper seemed unfazed, or more like, trying to ignore him.

 

“Oh no.” Hearth whispered.

  
  


“We… We’re not-”   
  
“WE SAVED DEATH AND NEED A BOAT TO GET OFF THIS ISLAND!!!” Papyrus threw in, only for Sans to shush him quietly.

  
“don’t think we’re gettin’ a ride from ‘em anymore…” He muttered out, taking a wary step back with Papyrus, slowly trying to reach the elementals, before he whispered to them. “think we should just bolt n’ book it?” 

 

Grillby gave Sans only a brief glance, before focusing back on the pirates ahead. “...I don’t know if we can  _ run. _ ”

  
  


Meister looked at Death and Reaper for answers, looking quiet unamused. Death threw his arms in the air, looking like a little kid trying to defend themselves. “we ‘er not! we ‘er just gonna leave dem!”

 

“IT BECAME A STRANGE SITUATION.” Reaper finally supplied, making Meister nod in understanding. Sometimes things don’t go as it usually does, Meister knows this well. He would listen to the full story later, but for now, the prisoners.

 

“Men, get them.”

 

The crew jumped down both ships one by one, all with rope and weapons, they didn’t look friendly at all, grins twisted and mean, just like the Death brother. 

 

“Please don’t try to resist, those men have no problem using force!” Meister called, walking back to the brother’s ship cooly, motioning for the owners of said ship to follow him.

  
  


“run,  _ run! _ ” Sans instructed quickly, Gaster reacting as well. He ran past his sons, picking up Sans and taking Papyrus by his hand as they tried to  _ somehow _ escape. He just got out of the reaper brother’s captivity.  _ He hadn’t even been freed for one damn day. _ He  _ knew _ following them was a bad idea!

 

And so was running, because the men caught them either way, tackling Gaster to the ground and practically tearing his sons from him as they tied them up separately. And it wasn’t a  _ lot _ different than from last time. Papyrus suddenly went quiet, didn’t struggle or complain. Gaster was absolutely terrified, begging for his sons’ safety. Sans, however, oh Sans. He was struggling, screaming, cursing at them to let him go, to let  _ his family _ go. He knew he stood no chance, he knew he was making matters worse, but he was scared and helpless and what else  _ could he do? _

 

It wasn’t until Grillby cried out a, “Just  _ calm down! _ ” Over to Sans that the skeleton actually stopped screaming. Though not because of Grillby’s words, but because one of the men simply gagged him with a tied cloth.

  
  


It seemed like such a good idea, that they decided to do it to every single one of them, using a different dark greyish one for Hearth and Grillby. They got them on board the Reaper brother’s ship, pushing them to the door below deck, passing the brother’s and Meister before they did. They were slammed into the wall Papyrus was once tied to, hooking them all up onto the wall.

 

They left them alone after that…

 

Time passed, the ship started to move again, yet no one came down to talk or do anything to them. Sooner of later, Meister walked down calmly, the Reaper brother’s in tow.

 

“Well hello there again!” Meister chirped, talking like he would get a response, even if he knew he wouldn’t.

 

“So I have been informed of what has happened, and really, it’s really none of your faults!” Meister waved at them all, before turning to the Reaper brother’s. “It’s theirs. Even when you are saved, one should still kill the ones that saved you.” He looked at Death for this, who looked at the ground quietly.

 

“Never know who will back stab you, so make sure you’re the one to do it.” Meister walked over to the row of prisoners, before picking out Papyrus from the group. “You isn’t it?” He asked, throwing Papyrus to the Reaper brother’s feet.

  
  


Sans didn’t know what was going on, but neither did he  _ care. _ What he knew was that they were singling Papyrus out, tossing him to the ground, and no matter what the reason was, it couldn’t be good. 

 

So Sans was crying out through the gag, struggling in his bonds, growling, trying to do  _ something. _ There wasn’t anything he  _ could _ do, but he was fighting. He was fighting so much, he couldn’t see or hear anything but the  _ pirates _ and his  _ brother _ and the pained little grunt his brother let out.

 

He didn’t hear the way Gaster was whimpering, terrified and helpless. Didn’t see the way Grillby was watching the scene, was watching him desperately.    
  
He just saw his brother needing help and he could do  _ nothing. _

  
  


Meister ignored them all, looking back at the brothers and pointing at Papyrus. “Beat him up.”

 

Reaper and Death stood still, Reaper’s eyes widen and Death’s smile twitched, they didn’t move.

 

Hearth was struggling in his bonds, shaking his head at Meister, wishing he could yell out ‘He is just a kid’, ‘I’ll take his place!, ‘What has that child ever done?’ and ‘Why him?’. But he couldn’t, he couldn’t and he was ashamed of himself. For being unable to  _ help  _ someone.

 

“This is the one that made you weak, soft. If you let your guard down to anyone, they can take that chance to stab you in the back.” Meister growled, disdain and disgust dripping from his voice, but it wasn’t oddly directed at someone. Maybe the words itself.

 

“Now. Beat him up.”

 

Reaper and Death didn’t move, only looked at Papyrus on the floor, looking up at them with big eyes, scared big eyes. Yet they didn’t move, their hands twitched, like they were about to move yet they stop themselves. It was quiet, and Meister watched them silently, waiting.

 

But it never happened.

 

After growing tired of waiting, Meister grabbed Papyrus and hooked him back up on the wall, before moving towards the Reaper brothers. Who both flinched when Papyrus was suddenly moved, a bad feeling crawling into their chests.

 

“It’s kill or be killed, if you don’t do it, someone will do it to  _ you _ .” Meister sighed, standing right in front of the brothers, before swiftly landing a blow on Reaper’s chest, making him fall on the floor. Death wasn’t spared either, being kneed in the stomach, it went on like that, with both the brothers trying, and failing to fight back. Meister was too skilled, dodging effortlessly and delivering hard punches in return.

 

It didn’t take long for both Reaper brothers to be on the floor, gasping and groaning. Reaper was curled up, covering his side where a particularly hard punch landed on him, while Death was throwing up magic waste. 

 

The captain shook his head, his face solmon and slightly sad. “I don’t want you two to be the ones to be killed, I want you to be on the  _ winning  _ side. I care too much for you to let you have a weak spot, I love you both.” Meister walked in between them, seeing Reaper reach out helplessly to Death, but the hand grabbed onto Death the second he could when Meister gently pushed him close to his brother.

 

“You both have the duty to watch over the prisoners,” Meister commanded, already starting to walk up the steps, “I hope you both learned your lesson…” He whispered, closing the door behind him.

 

Hearth watched silently, eyes wide. The brothers looked to be unconscious, they didn’t move after Reaper grabbed onto Death, holding him as protectively as he could. He didn’t know what to do, what he could say. Only watch the unconscious bodies in front of him. Everything was quiet.

  
  


The silence was suffocating, the only thing to be heard was the quiet sobbing of Papyrus, the young skeleton having been both unable to bear the sight, but also unable to look away. And the others weren’t far from that either.

 

Gaster, too, had at one point thrown up, the terrified fear, the showcase of violence and the smell of blood and magic waste being too much to handle. His own was sticking to the gag, dripping over his clothes ever so slowly, though he hardly cared anymore at this point.

 

Sans was simply in a state of denial. Shock? He was curled up as much as he could, eyes closed and his mind going on in a mantra of everything and nothing,  _ anything _ to make him pretend he wasn’t here. None of them were. None of this was real.

 

Grillby seemed to be one of the few that were still thinking straight. He wasn’t sure what exactly, but he was thinking, trying, trying to come up with  _ some _ kind of plan. But his movement was limited, the rope was fire resistant. He didn’t know what kind of magic the other’s had, but with the gags in their mouths it was almost impossible to communicate either way, so his main priority at the moment was either finding a way to open the rope or get rid of the gags.

  
  


But even that was a problem, during the course of who knows how long, crew members come down every so often to either get a barrel or bags. Some coming in to clean up the mess on the floor from the fight, none of them spoke to the prisoners as one cleaned the waste magic from the floor. One came in to spot the rest of the floor, while another grabbed the Reaper brothers to prop them against a wall, making sure to not seperate them from each other. Another came in, noticing the brothers haven’t woken up yet, treated their wounds, putting bandages and some green goo on places that looked like they were hurt. The goo must have been magical, since it glittered and sparkled. 

 

The brothers were still limp, resting against each other, bandages all over their body, at some point one crew member, a buff, hair, scary man, put pillows around them, so the sharp edges of cargo wouldn’t dig into them and make them more sore than they already will be.

 

Meister had even come at one point, cradling both of the Reaper brothers body like they were his children, whispering little praises and reassurances in their skull, caressing them gently.

  
  


The second they saw Meister again, both Papyrus and Gaster let out a small whimper, like they were the ones that had gotten the beating. Like scared, startled puppies, seeing their abuser come back.

 

Grillby was glaring at him, though aside from wary hostility, he was not going to pay the pirate any of his energy. He kept it to try to chew through the gag instead.

 

Only Sans ignored Meister completely. Aside from a small peek at Papyrus to see if he was okay, he kept rolled up in his little ball, in his own little world, trying to ignore anything around him.

  
  


Meister was called up by his crew. Leaving without another word.

 

No one came to feed the prisoners, no one came to give them water, everyone just ignored them, like they didn’t matter. When really, it was just Reaper’s and Death’s job to give them food, but they were out of commision for now.

  
  


Every time the men came for the brothers, Grillby tried to see if they brought anything useful, anything to further help him come up with something. With no luck.

 

His teeth weren’t sharp enough to bite through the cloth and those pirates really knew what they were doing when they tied them to a gag. At one point Grillby had tried desperately to unhook himself from the wall somehow, though it only ended up in Grillby falling to his side, now lying on the floor uncomfortably. But that was just fine by him as well.

 

He spent the following hours grinding his tied wrists against the wall he was lying to, hoping that maybe he could get through the rope  _ that _ way.

 

Despite how soiled he was, Papyrus was leaning against his father, exhausted and sad, trying to find comfort in the closeness for both of them. He had wanted to help his brother too, at first, but every time he had touched him Sans seemed to tense up. Seemed to panic even more than he first had. So for the time being Papyrus decided to give his brother space.


	12. Death regrets picking to feed the skeletons

“uugghhhh…” A groan finally broke the silence, with the smallest of the Reaper brothers curling up tightly, relaxing, then tighten up again. “brrrooooo…” He groaned again, but it was more whiny than the first. Reaper grumbled, his hold on his brother tightening, which only made Death whine more. Now _that_ woke Reaper up, his eye sockets snapping open while he tried to sit up.

 

“WHAT?” Reaper asked, looking around, he spotted the prisoners and gave them all a once over. They all looked like hell. “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ALL OF YOU?” He asked, a slight hint of judging in his tone. Death half sat up beside him, pressing his face into Reaper’s arm.

 

Hearth mumbled something through the bonds, but of course no one understood him, which only earned him a confused look from Reaper. “YOU KNOW I CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU, RIGHT?”

  


There was a small delay, like he had been asleep before, but not quite, until Papyrus opened his eyes, looking up at Reaper with big, relieved eyes. He wasn’t sure where the relief came from. That _finally_ someone was there to break the silence, someone else but Grillby’s quiet yet still noticeable charring of the rope? That the caretakers meant to make sure they were still alive were actually conscious? Or maybe it was just that the reaper brothers were okay. That they were alive and conscious and there was at least _one_ less thing for Papyrus to be worried about.

 

Grillby also reacted delayed, but when he did, he stopped moving. If the reaper brothers noticed he was trying to get through the ropes, they’d just attach him somewhere else with even smaller chances of escape. He couldn’t let that happen.

  


Reaper looked at the little window of the ship, seeing it was morning, they last remember it being midday. How long did they sleep?

 

“BROTHER, IT’S MORNING.” Reaper grumbled, getting up slowly, letting Death get up in his own pace, not bothering to deal with him flopping back on the bed. That looked like too much work to deal with.

 

Reaper winced when he made his body move, but he pushed on, having had _much_ worse. He walked over to a brown bag, pulling out two loaves of bread, dropping one near Death, before going for the water containers they had stashed.

 

Death looked at what was dropped next to him, grabbing the loaf and biting into it lightly, slowly, like every moment was at a snail's pace. Reaper sat next to his brother again, passing the container he brought with him, his brother accepting it gratefully.

 

They both sat there, eating slowly, drinking slowly, not saying a word nor looking at the prisoners.

 

Only when they were done, they moved. “skeles…” Death muttered, Reaper nodded, he himself saying “FLAMES…”

 

They both went back to the brown bag, grabbing two loaves each, a container each. They walked back to the others, Reaper sitting in front of the flames, in between Hearth and Grillby, while Death sat in front of the two younger skeletons, right in the middle. They both went for the gags, Reaper having little trouble with the flames, Death easily ungagged Papyrus, yet Sans was a different story.

 

“‘m really not in da mood fer dis, ‘id’er ya let me feed ya er ya starve.” Death growled, but it sounded more tired than anything else, all the bite having been beat out of him.

  


But Sans didn’t even care, not reacting at all, aside from the way he curled up in on himself a little more, giving away that he _had_ heard them.

 

“SANS…” Papyrus croaked out, his own voice scratchy and rough. But also desperate and worried, and more than enough for Sans to go slack.

 

He wasn’t looking up or making it any particularly easier for Death to ungag him, but he wasn’t as curled up anymore, wasn’t as defensive. Instead he was just looking down, his eyes tired and exhausted.

  


“oh get over yerself, no one even touched ya.” Death growled, pulling Sans roughly until he was facing him, ungaggin him with one hand. He grabbed the two loaves, one in each hand, and presented them in front of each of their faces. He wished he could take back feeding the skeletons, he would much rather have the flames, who were eating obediently.

 

“‘m not feedin’ ya though.” Death grumbled, looking at Gaster, “yer so annoyin’.”

 

“ME EITHER.” Reaper chimed in.

  


Gaster glanced up as he was being talked to, but essentially didn’t care. As long as Sans and Papyrus were being fed, he was fine.

 

Papyrus, however, did mind. “ARE… YOU GOING TO LET HIM DIE…?” He asked, his voice small and scared.

  


“i don’ care if ‘e does er not. now eat.” Death grumbled, looking far more tired now. Why are the skeleton family so difficult and stubborn? Death only pushed the loaves of bread to Sans’ and Papyrus’ teeth. “just eat....”

  


Sans complied quietly, eating through the loaf of Bread slowly, not actually having the stomach to eat anything. But he knew he had to, at least for Papyrus sake.

 

And Papyrus complied as well, making sure the bread stayed between his teeth as he chewed through, though he did so not quite as quiet.

 

“AR’ Y’ TWO O’AY???” He asked through his mouthful of bread.

  


Death didn’t answer him, neither did Reaper. It was none of the kid’s business if they were okay. He just had to eat, and that’s it.

 

The Reaper brothers waited until each ate the whole loaf, before giving them water, tipping the container for them. They were gentle during this, yet it was water, to forceful and they would waste good water, and the prisoners would still not have any.

 

“I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU ALL KEPT SAYING YOU WEREN’T OUR PRISONERS BACK THERE, YOU WERE FOLLOWING US KNOWING WE WEREN’T FRIENDLY. WE EVEN SAID YOU WEREN’T WELCOMED ON OUR SHIP, PLANNING TO COME ALONG ANYWAYS. WHAT DO YOU TAKE US FOR? DID YOU REALLY THINK WE WOULD JUST LET YOU ON OUR SHIP? FREE? IF YOU DID, THEN YOU DESERVE TO BE IN THE POSITION YOU ARE NOW, FOR BEING STUPID AND NAIVE.” Reaper chided softly, not really into the whole scolding thing, yet was still baffled and miffed this group would think they would just let them on their ship, like good buddies.

 

They are the Reaper brothers dammit, what do they take them for?

 

Death moved away from the two skeletons he was catering for, going to place the empty container with the rest, for them to be refilled at a later date. He didn’t speak or add anything to it, what his brother said summed it up nicely.

  


“...YOU WERE FRIENDLY, THOUGH,” Papyrus muttered out, his voice more subdued than usually. “AND WE HAD FUN. I DON’T THINK YOU’RE ALL BAD.”

 

“doesn’ matter, though,” Sans said back. He was curling up again, yet not completely yet, and sticking closer to his brother than he had before. “they’re all pirates. even if they’d miraculously be good, they’d still fuck us up. they don’t trust us, same way we don’ trust them, we jus’ don’ have the weapons to defend ourselves. ‘t was stupid to think we’d get out of this alive.”  
  
“WE SURVIVED A LOT LONGER THAN I EXPECTED…!” Papyrus offered in a desperate hope that might help. It didn’t.

  


No one said anything else, days started to blur by, the Reaper brothers fed them when it’s time, was even forced to feed Gaster at least once because of Meister’s scolding. But usually, either the brothers would do word games or hang with Meister when he comes down, playing cards with him when he had the time. Reaper and Death were both changing the bonds on Grillby, having noticed his little escape plan, when the door opened.

 

It has been a while since Meister came down, so Death and Reaper didn’t bother looking, knowing they were safe with his crew. Yet the thing was, the person that walked down wasn’t a part of the crew, but was wearing a purple coat, just like Hearth. He moved his finger to his lips, not to make a sound, as he slowly walked behind the brothers, the back of his gun ready to hit them over the head.

  


Gaster’s eyes grew wide as he saw the newcomer, keeping himself from making a noise, from being too obvious. Which was a challenge, because he was just about ready to cry of relief, finally feeling any sense of hope in his soul.

 

Papyrus and Grillby noticed them as well, though were averting their gaze as soon as they could tell they were trying to stay unnoticed. Though there was a part of Papyrus, a small part, that wanted to stop them. That didn’t want to see the reaper brothers getting hurt again.

 

But that would be unfair. Unfair to Sans, to Grillby and Hearth, to his father. Unfair to himself. So he stayed quiet.

  


Hearth pretended he wasn’t awake, actually leaning down to get more comfortable, but now using it to look like he was asleep, but an eye was cracked open to watch.

 

The man lifted the gun, about to slam it down, when Death gasped and twirled around to stop it, yet it was going for Reaper, and the only thing Death could think of was to _protect_. So he took the hit, crumbling to the ground, last thing he heard was Reaper’s horrified gasp.

 

Before the soldier could ready himself for another swing, Reaper got on his feet, slammed his fist hard into the human’s stomach, about to deliver another one. But the sound of a gunshot boom threw the room, Reaper fell down, holding his shoulder. Another soldier came running down the steps, before kicking Reaper’s head, knocking him out, when Reaper was reaching out for his brother, whispering a soft. “NO…”

 

The soldier, pulled his friend up, asked if he was alright, when he got a confirmation, he continued on to the prisoners. Cutting the knots quickly, asking them if they were harmed, and giving a firm nod to Hearth, who also gave one back.

  


“pops, you ok?” Sans asked, ignoring the soldiers questions and instead heading for his family. Gaster coughed out a few times once the gag was removed, glad to be able to breathe without the stench of vomit anymore.

 

“I’m fine…” He replied, though he didn’t exactly look fine. Weak and sickish rather. “Thank you. _So_ much!” He still told the soldiers, before pushing himself off the ground. Papyrus was already up, holding Sans close and asking him if _he_ was okay.

 

Grillby was the last one to get up, feeling his muscles hurt from underusage, from the uncomfortable positions. Though his leg seemed about fine again.

 

“How are you…?” He asked Hearth once he managed to sort himself out, voice still quiet, almost like they had to hide themselves.

  


“I’m fine, you?” Hearth asked, bringing Grillby in for a bear hug. From the corner of Hearth’s eyes, he saw more soldiers come in, the ones already over Death and Reaper were throwing their weapons away, to the many piles of cargo, and tieing them up. He saw them pick the knocked out skeletons and carry them upstairs. It hurt seeing that, it hurt seeing Death like that.

 

But what could he do?

  


Grillby returned the hug, reluctantly at first, until he realized just how much he missed Hearth, despite him having been here with him. He missed hearing his voice, he missed his friend, missed them being _free._

 

“I can’t believe we got this lucky,” he breathed out, his voice thick. “I can’t believe this is over. _God._ ”

  


“Yeah.” Hearth muttered, looking at the ground now that the Reaper brothers were gone from view.

 

“Come now everyone, let’s get you all to the other ship.” One of the soldiers called, leading the group out. When they left the bottom quarters of the ship, they saw Meister’s men scattered on the ground, knocked out or dead, same for a few soldier. It must have been a quick and quiet battle, since no one heard anything wrong from the bottom floor. There was a plank that connected the Reaper’s ship to the next, a royal ship. They were ushered on while they secure the Reaper’s ship, the Reaper brothers themselves were thrown into a cell outside, tucked into a hole at the back of the ship, in right under the captain’s wheel.

 

“How did you find us?” Hearth asked, but the other soldier laughed at his question. Saying that the king was informed of what happened by a survivor.

  


"I warned them I’m under the king’s protection!”

 

“y’ sure did, pops.” Sans muttered out, still sounding tired, though a lot less hopeless than before. He was leaning to Papyrus while walking, like he would collapse any moment, though Papyrus didn’t mind supporting the extra weight.

 

“DO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE A CHANGE OF CLOTHES AND SOME EXTRA FOOD???” The youngest skeletons asked the soldiers. “DAD’S NOT DOING TOO GOOD, I DON’T THINK ANY OF US ARE, BUT THEY WERE ESPECIALLY HARD ON DAD.”

 

“Papyrus…” Gaster muttered out, surprised by his son. Before he looked over to the soldiers himself. “A change of clothes would be nice, but… please, if you have any spare food, feed them first. I’m… quite alright.”

  


“We have more than enough food and clothes for you all, rest well Gaster.” The soldier assured, smiling at the father before pushing them to two maids. “Get them some food and clothes please.” The maid nodded, pulling them along.

 

-

 

They all ended up getting a change of clothes, Sans and Grillby barely having realized just how filthy their clothes had been. But they’ve been, oh boy they’ve been. And they immediately felt so much more comfortable in clean clothes.

 

The maids also prepared them all food, and while it wasn’t a fancy feast, it was something other than bread and water. Or, well. Nothing.

 

Gaster already felt a lot better after a good meal, while Sans had just straight up fallen asleep after finishing half of it, leaning against Grillby’s side. Papyrus had offered moving Sans, though Grillby didn’t mind and they didn’t want to wake the skeleton up either.

 

“It feels good not having the constant threat of the pirates around anymore,” Gaster said with a relieved sigh anymore, getting a few mumbled in agreement. Though Grillby could tell that  _ some _ of them didn’t seem entirely convinced. He stayed quiet about it.

  
  


Hearth had mostly been lost in his own head, even leaving the dinner table early, being led to the bunker by one of the maids. He didn’t act like it, but he was withdrawn and dull. It just didn’t feel right. He didn’t feel right. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or something, but he thinks he was losing his mind.


	13. the plan

They’ve been on the boat for several days, slowly starting to recover from everything that had happened. Gaster didn’t look as sickly anymore, Sans wasn’t as closed up and tired anymore.

 

Gaster, Grillby and Hearth would often help around the ship, to show their gratitude, to have something to do in general. Papyrus sometimes tried to as well, but was often shot down due to being too young, the most he would help with was the more physical things, like carrying barrels and boxes.

 

Sans seemed to be the only one content to just relax. He’s had enough action for probably the next century.

 

Though it seemed like they were all recovering, still not everyone seemed entirely happy with their situation given. So it was Papyrus whom ended up sneaking out of the bunker and onto the deck at night, bread and bottle of alcohol hidden in his coat. 

 

This wasn’t the first time either, though he hadn’t brought them anything before. But he’s heard some of the soldiers talking, never quite to him, about how the reaper brothers were most likely going to die by the end of this. He didn’t think they would bother to feed them. But he also wasn’t ready to let them die.

  
  


It also wasn’t a secret how the Reaper brothers were beaten to a pulp, mostly from the anger from soldiers. Even if they weren’t allowed to open the cage, nevertheless go inside it and kick and punch the two brothers without a care in the world, not at all worried now that the brothers were tied down from shoulders to toe. They had no way of defending themselves.

 

Papyrus had come when they had gotten the most recent beating, they never cried out, never cried or screamed, never said or did anything. So when they heard Papyrus, they didn’t do anything, Reaper couldn’t even open his eyes, and Death had a big bruise on his cheek blood slipping from his mouth.

  
  


Papyrus didn’t make a noise either. He got a thin metal needle he found on the ship a bit back out of one of his pockets, starting to pick the lock with ease. He’s never done it before until a few days back, has only ever read about it in books. And when he tried it first it took several tries. But Papyrus was determined, and he still remembered the images in the book, and eventually picking the lock, at least this one in particular, has become muscle memory.

 

He opened the cell door quietly, stepping inside and kneeling down in front of the cage. 

 

“I brought you some food,” he said, his voice a lot quieter than usually, offering both Reaper and Death the bread.

  
  


Death moved his head to look at Papyrus, making a confused sound. “w...hy..?” It was a better reaction than Reaper’s, who shooed away at the thought of Papyrus getting close to his mouth, uncovering it, taking his scarf off.

  
  


Papyrus glanced at Reaper concerned, but moved the bread away from him, placing it down again.

 

“I… wasn’t sure if they were feeding you,” Papyrus told the pirate. “Do either of you have any open wounds?”

  
  


“WE ARE FINE…” Reaper muttered, still looking away.

 

“can ya ‘eave da bread fer my bro ‘ere? ‘ll feed it ta em, lat’er.” Death asked gently, trying to sit up but failing, from sore bones and the rope doesn’t give him much room to balance his weight. 

 

  
“OF CO- Of course!” Papyrus told him, relieved to get a reaction after all. He was worried they might not cooperate. “I also brought something to drink, though I don’t think leaving the bottle would be a good idea… Should I just leave you alone for a bit and come back to get the bottle???”

 

“dat woo’d be nice, thanks.” Death nodded, “gimme mine d’ough.” He opened his mouth for Papyrus to stuff his loaf of bread in.

 

  
And Papyrus did, placing the loaf in Death’s mouth, leaving the rest close to them on the ground, before getting up to leave the cell.

 

“I’ll be back in about twenty minutes!” He told the two pirates, before closing the cell door behind him again, closing the lock. “I’ll stay close, but only to look out that no one comes here. I won’t watch or anything! Uhm…”

 

He felt like he was missing something, something he should still tell them. But there was nothing. So instead he gave them a nod, before turning his back and heading a bit farther off, where he had sight of most of the deck.

  
  


Once Death devoured the bread in his mouth, he moved his body to go near Reaper, his brother letting him bite the very top of his scarf, pulling it down. Death quickly moved his body to bite the bread for Reaper, then squirming back to his brother and shoving the bread in the other’s mouth. Death used his body to shield Reaper’s face, watching him eat the bread as fast as he could. When Reaper’s face came only an inch away from his, Death pushed the loaf of bread with his tongue, pushing the rest inside his brothers mouth before retreating. Only then Reaper chomped down and swallowed. 

 

Death wiggled over to the bottles, opening one with his mouth and pushing it to Reaper with his head, being careful not to tip it over. When it was close enough, Reaper lifted his upper body to close his mouth around the tip, then tipping it to get a few gulps. Death doing the same to his, yet they both went at a slow rate, alcohol was never that fun to drink.

 

Once finished, they moved the bottles away carelessly, Death moving in to bite the top of the scarf, pulling it up. “THANK YOU BROTHER.” 

 

“hmm~” Death hummed, curling up next to his brother for comfort and warmth.

 

-

 

Hearth had snuck out of the bunker, some cheese and two slices of bread, he had a small container of water. He quietly went to the deck, to the brothers, but he spotted Papyrus there, out and about and  _ not  _ in his bed.

 

“Papyrus?” Hearth whispered, confused and a little bit suspicious. 

  
  


“O-OH!!! HELLO HEARTH!” Papyrus replied, trying not to seem suspicious, though there was a nervous hint to his tone. “HOW NICE TO MEET YOU HERE!!! WHAT - UHM. ARE YOU ALSO HAVING A COMPLETELY UNSUSPICIOUS MIDNIGHT WALK OVER THE SHIP??? BECAUSE I SURE AM! WE SHOULD WALK TOGETHER INTO THIS DIRECTION!” 

 

He wasn’t even waiting for an answer, instead immediately taking hold of Hearth’s arm and walking into the opposite direction of the cell.

  
  


“You were helping the Reaper brothers, weren’t you.” It wasn’t even a question, but Hearth didn’t even look upset, he had a smile on his face. He showed Papyrus the bread and cheese with a small water container. “Me too.”

  
  


“I-I…” Papyrus hesitated, before giving Hearth a nod. “I was worried for them. I don’t think the soldiers are going to… keep them alive…”    
  
The words felt painful in his throat, and he wasn’t used to talking this quiet in the first place. But he couldn’t have anyone hear them talking about this.

 

“I can’t stand seeing them like this!”

  
  


Hearth nodded grimmly, “They’re not. They are planning to execute them when we get back home.” his voice sounded like the idea made him sick, disgusted, worried. But he started to walk over to the cell, melting the cheese on each bread slice, making it gooie and smell oh so good.

 

“Are they awake?” Hearth peeked into the cell, only to see both brothers curled up to each other with two bottles of alcohol on the floor. “Ummm…?”

 

  
“They were when I left them!” Papyrus told him, following up behind Hearth. He didn’t hesitate to get out his needle again, already picking the lock of the cell, before letting Hearth in.   
  
“Reaper didn’t seem to want to eat in front of me, so I left them alone for a bit!”

  
  


Reaper and Death jumped when they heard the cell door open, but relaxed when they saw Papyrus and Hearth. “Oh, hey.” Hearth greeted awkwardly, “I got you food and some water.”

 

“nice.” Death chuckled, “ya two ‘re spoilin’ us.” Reaper laughed beside him. “can ya ‘eave it on da floor?” 

 

“Sure.” Hearth said, leaving it close so they wouldn’t struggle to get, before leaving with Papyrus, closing the cell door behind them.

 

Hearth and Papyrus took up the space the smaller skeleton had before, waiting. After a bit of silence, Hearth spoke. “I don’t want them to die.”

  
  


Papyrus glanced up at Hearth, his eyes big and afraid. “Me neither,” he said, still keeping his tone quiet. “I know they’ve done bad things, but… they’re not  _ all bad. _ ”

 

They  _ had _ saved him. Had played with him. Had let them all follow them without killing, attacking or just scaring them off. They didn’t have to do any of those things, could’ve just made quick process out of them by throwing them all down the cliff when they had the chance to; Or letting Papyrus die instead of risking their lives for his. 

 

“Maybe I’m just selfish wanting them to live, they obviously favor me. But I think they could be good people…”

  
  


“I wish…” Hearth whispered, “We can set them free…” he muttered out, looking to the cell that was on his left. He couldn’t really see anything inside, because the only opening was not viewable in his angle. 

  
  


“Well…” Papyrus began hesitantly. He’s been playing with a thought for a while now, though he knew no one was going to like it, so he kept it for himself, but… “If we take the rescue boats at the very back, no one should be able to hear us… We’d have to do it during night and go into the opposite direction of where we’re heading - the direction where the other pirate would probably come from - to get enough distance, but as long as we don’t get spotted during the night we  _ should _ be able to escape…  _ Them _ , I mean.”

  
  


Hearth looked down at the skeleton, shocked. “You… and you would throw everything away for them? We can’t just untie them and put them on a boat, they will round back to us and might kill us all.” Hearth whispered, yet he squatted down to be more on Papyrus’ height, looking sort of excited.

 

“If we are doing this, we might have to do it tomorrow. To get supplies.”

  
  


Papyrus gave him a firm nod. “Are we… going to tell the others…?” He asked, his voice even quieter than before, almost scared and sad. Child like. 

 

He didn’t want to have to leave his family behind, but he knew that by rescuing the pirates, he was not just bringing himself in great danger, but also risking becoming a fugitive, a criminal. He didn’t want to put that burden on his family either. Didn’t want to put them in danger…

  
  


Hearth looked away, unsure. “I… can’t leave Grillby…. but maybe I’ll try to ask him the night we do it. If he doesn’t want to go, I know he won’t tell. Not if it’s what I want to do.” 

 

“I’m not sure about your family though, you know them best”

  
  


Papyrus didn’t reply, but he did give Hearth a nod. He’d need a night to think this over.

 

-

 

The captain said they would arrive within the next few days, which Sans was only happy about. He absolutely had been on ships for long enough in the last few days. He’s been spending most of the day so far following Grillby around, as he didn’t exactly want to be alone, though everyone else seemed busy, too.

 

Gaster just had been discussing something with the captain and some other people most of the time, apparently the king was having concerns about letting Gaster go on any more journeys for the time being.

 

Hearth and Papyrus, though, were a different story.    
  
Papyrus had seemed oddly busy since they woke up this morning, running back and forth through the bunkers, though avoiding to tell Sans what it was all about. And Sans personally wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, Papyrus sometimes just was like that. Maybe he was working on a surprise art project or going through early teenage rebellion.

 

Though what  _ did _ get Sans’ attention was how apparently Papyrus hadn’t been the only one acting off.

 

“Hearth’s been weird all day, too,” Grillby muttered out to him at one point, the two of them sitting at a higher part of the ship, where they could watch most of the people on the deck. “Like he’s been avoiding me - or maybe anyone. Has he talked to you?”

 

“huh. don’t think he has,” Sans muttered surprised. “damn. y’ think they’re in cahoots?”   
  


For a bit, Sans didn’t get any kind of reply. Though when he finally glanced at the flame, he saw him staring at him.

 

“...what?”   
  
“Didn’t think you were the type to say ‘cahoots,’” Grillby admitted, getting a scoff back from Sans.

 

“it’s a good word!”   
  
“You’re right! You’re right!” Grillby said, raising his hands in defeat. “It does seem pretty suspicious, though. Maybe we should talk to them, before they’re getting themselves in trouble…” The more Grillby thought about it, the less he liked the idea of Hearth planning something behind his back. Knowing  _ him _ he might just get him in more than just trouble…

 

So when Grillby saw Hearth on the deck a bit later he approached him, eyes more troubled than usually, though not inherently unwelcoming. He knew Sans was already waiting in one of the bunkers, keeping Papyrus at bay for until he’d join them with Hearth.

 

“Hey,” the flame said towards the taller elemental. “You busy right now?”

  
  


“Oh?” Hearth said, startled. “No? Why?” He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on, looking around like he was making sure no one was in ear shot. Even when he was doing nothing wrong, standing here, like he should be here. He isn’t sweating at all. Nope.

  
  


Grillby quirked a brow at him, suspecting, but didn’t point it out.

 

“Need to talk to you about something,” he said instead, deciding to not beat around the bush for long. “Come on, let’s head somewhere less public.” He walked ahead into direction of the bunkers, waving towards Hearth to come along, though not actually looking back to check if he was.

  
  


Hearth scrambled after him, nervous that Papyrus might have told them their plan too soon. No, Papyrus was a smart kid, he can make a good call. Yup, that same person that befriended two murder machines…. yup.

 

Hearth followed Grillby silently, thinking that anything he says before he is told what Grillby wanted to talk about could be used against him later. They reached the bunkers pretty quickly, not wasting any time.

 

“So… what is it?” Hearth asked hesidently. 

  
  


Grillby didn’t reply immediately, instead simply waving Hearth along until they reached the bunker Sans and Papyrus where already in.

 

“- _ NOT _ HAVING A REBELLIOUS PHASE!!!”

 

“c’mon, you can tell me, paps! you  _ know _ i’ve been there, too!”   
  
“YOU  _ STILL ARE,  _ BROTHER!” Papyrus complained with a huff, before he looked up to see the newcomers, surprised. “O-OH! HEARTH! WHAT A SURPRISE!!!”   
  
“Really now?” Grillby asked unbelieving, closing the door behind them once Hearth got in. “I think it might be less surprising than you’re letting on.”   
  
“O-OH???”

 

“yea, uh-” Sans paused as Grillby sat down next to Sans, ready to interrogate two monsters. “we’ve noticed you both bein’ weird all day. ‘s unlike you an’ we’re worried.”

  
  


“There is nothing to be worried about!” Hearth exclaimed, he didn’t really want to be here, nor did he feel they should trap him like this. He was in no obligation to stay, he could just walk out. Yet, he couldn’t, because then it would look even  _ more  _ suspicious. “What makes you think we’re even acting weird?”

 

Maybe he could rebudal the things they took notice about, blame it on something else. Yeah. That could work, maybe think of something on the spot of what they  _ could  _ be doing. Hearth just doesn’t want to tell them yet, in case they tell the rest of the crew, saying ‘its for your own good’ or try to convince them out of it.

  
  


“Hearth, you’ve been avoidant all day. Like you’re scared someone will find something.”

 

“an’ papyru-”   
  
“I TOLD YOU I’M NOT ACTING WEIRD!!!” Papyrus interrupted Sans with a good bit of annoyance in his voice, before realizing his outburst, expression going embarrassed. “I APOLOGIZE,” he muttered out. “THOUGH I DO NOT SEE HOW I WOULD HAVE BEEN WEIRD!!!”

 

“pacin’ around, sayin’ you’re busy all day long,” Sans suggested with a quirked brow.

 

“I HAVE BEEN DOING… THINGS…”

 

“ _ Things? _ ” Grillby repeated skeptically.

  
“THINGS.” Papyrus confirmed.

 

“c’mon you two, cut the crap,” Sans huffed out, frowning at both of them. “there’s  _ somethin’ _ up.”

  
  


Hearth huffed, annoyed about the whole situation now. They  _ had  _ to protect those brothers, and Hearth is starting to doubt more and more if he could trust them with their little secret. It also didn’t help how they commanding them to tell them like they are they're parents. “Listen, we are allowed to do our own thing and not tell you. If I don’t  _ want  _ to tell you then that’s that, you can’t force us.” 

 

The flame huffed once more before crossing his arms and looking away. Usually he wouldn’t act or talk like this, he was more respectful than this. But he was feeling attacked right now and thrown in a corner. These two didn’t feel like friends at the moment, and in a way, they could be the ones to get in the way of their plans and let the Reaper brothers  _ die _ .

 

That was something Hearth won’t allow, a life is more important…. or lives.

  
  


Oof. Grillby was watching Hearth surprised, not having expected a reaction like that. And sure, he was being incredibly defensive and definitely hiding something, but he  _ did _ have a point.

 

“Don’t be like that, Hearth,” Grillby sighed out, a hand running through his flames. 

  
  


“Then don’t treat us like criminals being interrogated!” Hearth shot back.

  
  


“we’re not-!”   
  
“You’re right,” Grillby interrupted the other skeleton, who glanced up at Grillby with childish betrayal, before crossing his arms and pouting, a nice mirror image of Hearth.

 

“We weren’t trying to attack you, and you don’t have to tell us what’s going on.”

 

“ _ grillby!? _ ” Sans asked, suddenly feeling left alone, though Grillby glanced at him with a calm, slightly apologetic smile.

 

“They’re allowed to have secrets,” he said, before turning back to Hearth and Papyrus. “Though we  _ are _ worried. I know you would risk your life just to help someone, Hearth, I just… don’t want you to do something that’ll get you killed. Just want you to stay safe.”

 

Papyrus had stayed quiet through all of this, though it was getting increasingly harder to. He knew that if they just told them everything was fine and leave, they could go. They could continue, without anyone interfering.

 

But they were  _ worried. _ And  _ rightfully so. _ Because they  _ were _ going to do something dangerous, something foolish, would possibly never get to see them again.

 

“WE’RE JUST TRYING TO HELP…” Papyrus muttered out eventually. “YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT US…”

  
  


Hearth looked away, feeling slightly defeated with kind words. Now that Papyrus broke, there is no point is there?

 

“We just don’t want them to die…” He didn’t bother telling them  _ who  _ they were talking about, they would know.

  
  


“Oh  _ Hearth… _ ” Grillby practically whined out desperately, his eyes almost fearful as he looked at him. “You  _ can’t _ be serious.  _ Please. _ ”   
  
“BUT WHY NOT???” Papyrus asked the elemental. “WE HAVE A PLAN HOW TO DO IT WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT!”

 

Sans was much less fearful as Grillby was, mostly irritated, kind of frustrated. “they’re  _ pirates, _ papyrus!”   
  
“THEY  _ SAVED ME _ !”   
  
“they  _ held us all captive _ ,” Sans retorted quickly. “had us tied up.”   
  
“NO! THE OTHER PIRATES DID!” Papyrus still argued back, though. “ _ THEY _ WERE TAKING CARE OF US WHILE WE WERE CAPTIVE.  _ THEY _ GOT HURT WHEN- GOT HURT BECAUSE OF… ME.”

 

“no.” Sans said, his stare hard and unmovable. “no. they didn’t.  _ you _ didn’t do anything. not once.”   
  
“THEY WERE TRYING TO PROTECT ME!” 

 

Sans groaned, hands covering his face as he let himself drop back to lie on the floor, contemplating everything that’s happened in his life.

 

Grillby gave him a concerned glance, before looking back to Hearth, his voice lower, almost like they could have a private conversation here without the skeletons overhearing.

  
“ _ Please _ tell me you’re just playing along to humor the kid. That you’re not serious.”

  
  


Hearth turned to look at him, but his face was twisted in disgust and despisement. “You know damn well I’m not.” Before raising his voice so even Sans could hear. “And if you two are going to be so disgusting as to let them die, when  _ they willingly  _ took the beating instead of this kid, or when they let us follow them, played with the kid, taught him….” He trailed off for a moment, battling something, or maybe, battling on  _ if  _ he should say it.

 

“You’re no worse than other pirates. They clearly showed they care, maybe not a lot, but you have  _ no  _ idea what they been through to be that way. Yet they were so nice to Papyrus, did all that for him. That’s good enough for me to know they _ aren’t bad,  _ they are just lost souls haven been thrown into hell with no help _. _ ” Hearth growled, swerving around to head for the door, steam and sparks coming off his head.

 

“Well I’m not scum like you.” He swung the door open and slammed it shut with all the anger in his body.

  
  


Grillby flinched at the noise, watching the door for a few more seconds as he felt guilty. Slightly sick. He’s never experienced Hearth this angry before, never heard him be this harsh.

 

He only moved when Papyrus got up as well, glancing towards the young skeleton. “Papyrus-”   
  
“I DON’T THINK YOU’RE BAD PEOPLE,” Papyrus spoke as he stood by the door, not leaving yet. “I THINK YOU’RE JUST SCARED, WHICH I UNDERSTAND.”

 

“...When are you two leaving?”   
  
“YOU CAN’T STOP US,” Papyrus said rather than to answer, but Grillby shook his head.

 

“I’m not going to. And I’ll make sure Sans won’t either.” That much might be a lie. He could see the truth in their words, though Papyrus was a child, was Sans’ little brother. While he was going to talk to Sans about this, if Sans truly was going to want to stop his brother from leaving, Grillby had no right in stopping him.

 

Though sometimes a white lie was necessary.   
  


“...TONIGHT,” Papyrus finally said. “DON’T RUIN THIS. THEIR  _ LIVES _ ARE ON THE LINE.” He left the room without another word.


	14. in which death is ignored

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy sexy month aka my birthday, anniversary and also valentines month

The boat was prepared, their supplies needed waiting there for them. Hearth and Papyrus made their way to the cell, Hearth having the key to the cell in his hand, squeezing it between his fingers so they won’t make any sound when he moved.

 

But right when They got to the cell, they saw Sans and Grillby standing there, no,  _ leaning  _ close to the cell. Most likely waiting for them. 

 

“How long have you been waiting there…?” Hearth asked cautiously, his body tensing as he made eye contact with the other flame.

  
  


“not lo-”

  
  


“fer ‘bout t’ree ‘ours, not countin’ da t’irty minutes dey needed ta discuss d’eir poses.” Death said from inside the cell casually, laying on his side, with Reaper sitting up, glaring at each and every one of them. 

 

“now can ya all tell us was’ goin’ on?” Death grumbled. Not like someone could sleep much when you’re captured, but Death was starting to slip away to sleep when the other two came around and talked oh so loudly for his taste.

  
  


“Y-YOU- You said you wouldn’t stop us!” Papyrus said, making effort to keep his voice low, but still sounding betrayed. 

 

“We’re not,” Grillby said, moving from his position leaning against the wall to step closer to Hearth, his voice a low hiss. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea to save -” He lowered his voice more, words almost only audible to Hearth. “- the  _ pirates that murdered your entire crew _ and  _ many _ more.”

 

He took a small step back again, landing back next to Sans, whom had moved as well. “But do you really think I’d let my best friend go on a suicide mission alone?” He laughed, though it was tired and barely genuine. “I followed you through the last one. I’ll stick with you through this one.”

  
  


“thanks fer i’norin’ me ya dicks.” Death grumbled.

 

Hearth stared at Grillby, shocked for a moment. Before looking down… conflicted. 

 

“And you?” Hearth looked over to Sans, still not entirely relaxed.

 

“wha da hell is even goin’ on?” Death whispered to Reaper, who only shrugged, equally as annoyed as Death.

  
  


Sans tensed at the question, glancing anywhere but at Hearth or his brother. Though he could still feel the stares on his bones.

 

“they helped papyrus,” he muttered out eventually. “they…  _ killed. _ they tried t’ kill me, only to kill someone else in my stead. but yea, they helped paps. saved ‘im. took the beatin’ instead of paps. so i guess ‘m insane enough to help y’all now.”   
  
“You don’t have to come with us, brother,” Papyrus said, his eyes soft as he watched Sans. “You’re helping enough by letting us go.”   
  
“i wanna come, though,” Sans argued. “i told’cha i’m not gonna leave you alone ‘gain, paps. sorry but you’re stuck with me.”

 

Papyrus didn’t quite reply, but his eyes were big and watery as he ran up to Sans, encasing him in a big hug. “THANK YOU, BROTHER!!!”

  
  


There was a clang, bone against metal. They looked to the cell to see Reaper had launched himself to the bars, his skull to big to go through the bars, but it was between them, looking at them. His eye sockets large and unpredictable, looking  _ right  _ threw them. 

 

“HELP…..?” He asked lowly, his voice and tone low, yet hard with a hint of curiosity. 

 

“‘re ya plannin’ ta ‘elp us?” Death asked, almost amused. “no wonder ya two came ‘round often with food.” He giggled, looking at Hearth and Papyrus like he figured out their master plan.

 

“WHY.” Reaper demanded.

  
  


“‘cause we’re idio-  _ ow! _ ” Sans was hit before he could finish.

 

“Because Hearth and Papyrus are better people than either of us could ever strive to be,” Grillby said, pretending like he hadn’t just hit Sans’ over the head gently. 

 

“You saved my life before!” Papyrus supplied more helpfully. “So it’s only fair if we saved yours!”

  
  


“dis might be a bad idea fer ya~” Death almost sang, his focus going to Hearth, who walked towards them, showing off the key in his hands. “ohhh~ shiny~” The skeleton teased.

 

Hearth unlocked the door as slowly and quietly as he could, swinging the door open and walking to the bros, ignoring their teasing.

 

“I’m the strongest of us all, so it would make sense if I carried Reaper.” The Reaper brothers had rope all around them, since they are so feared, no one wanted to take any chances. So they had tight rope bounding them from their shoulders to their feet, barely leaving them with any movement, unless they squirm around of course. Nevertheless, they couldn’t walk, or crawl or move, so they would have to carry them.

 

Hearth moved his hands so they were under Reaper, one behind the knee and the other on his back. Then lifting him up, the flame made eye contact with the skeleton, feeling a chill run down his body when he looked into those hollow eye sockets.

 

What those eyes could have seen to make them like this, Hearth wonders.

  
  


Grillby and Papyrus gave Hearth a nod, both heading for the other pirate, though Papyrus decided to let Grillby ahead once he saw the elemental move as well. Grillby squatted down to Death, hands not quite yet reaching for him as he asked,

  
“...May I?”

  
  


“go ‘ight ‘head my  _ oh  _ so sweet knight in shinin’ armor~” Death teased, obviously trying to mess with him with how over exaggerated and sarcastic his tone was. “take me ‘way~”

  
  


Grillby rolled his eyes at the monster’s behavior, but still picked Death up gently, holding him close to his chest as he rose up with the pirate in his arms, ready to follow Hearth’s and Papyrus’ lead.

 

“y’ sure we shouldn’ gag them or somethin’? so they don’ make noise?” Sans questioned, his tone very obviously nervous. Though Papyrus shook his head.

 

“They’d be ruining their own escape, why would they do that?” The young, oh so naive skeleton questioned. “I think they’ll be fine!”

 

“if you say so…”

  
  


“yer so sweet papyrus!’ Death cooed, letting his neck arch so he can see Papyrus, even if it was upside down, but he quickly righted himself when he noticed his hood was starting to go down. “riskin’ dis ta save  _ us,  _ now wha would pa’ssess ya ta do dat?” Death was grinning wide at Papyrus, it didn’t have a hint of aggression or at all threatening, yet with how cocky and teasey Death has suddenly gotten when he figured out they were freeing him seemed kind of off, like he knew something that they didn’t.

 

Reaper too, was awfully quiet, like he was waiting for something, or hiding something. He didn’t say anything while all of them moved quickly, yet still careful to not make any noise.

  
  


“I… have the feeling you’re not being entirely serious,” Papyrus noted, ignoring the small, “oh,  _ really now? _ ” From his brother as he went on. “But you’re welcome either way!”

 

They walked towards the boat they prepared, Papyrus a little bit ahead to warn and stop them in case he would run into someone, Sans at the very end to do the same. Though they went uninterrupted up until they arrived at the boat, Papyrus noticing a figure in the darkness. 

 

He stopped the others quietly, peeking around a corner to try to recognize who he was looking at.

 

“You know, I already saw you, Papyrus.”   
  
“DAD!?”

  
  


Hearth sucked in his breath, holding in a gasp or any other sound that might come out. That didn’t go the same way as Death though, on the contrary to Reaper, who didn’t react at all, Death on the other hand let out a  _ thankfully  _ silent enough “ohhh~”, like he just witnessed an amazing and entertaining plot twist in a story.

  
  


“what’re you doin’ here, pops,” Sans asked, his tone defensive and aggressive. Gaster had been sitting at the edge of the boat, but he got up once his two sons were approaching him.

 

“I was going to ask  _ you _ that, but I can already figure the answer to that out myself…” The royal inventor spoke, frowning deeply as his eyes wandered over to Hearth and Grillby carrying the pirates. “Do you have  _ any _ idea what you’re doing? This is high treason!”

  
  


“mutiny~!” Death cheerly added to Gaster’s list, giggling lightly. 

 

“I can understand why you would not want this,” Hearth nodded, sighing at Death’s oddly cheerful and carefree attitude. “Since you have been at the brunt of what they did, and how they like you the least….” Hearth looked like he regretted saying the last part, but continued. 

 

“But we are not letting them die, not when they showed they cared, how nicely they treated Papyrus.” Hearth talked firmer, standing ground to his choice, yet he made a point to keep his voice quiet.

  
  


“...How did you even find out about this?” Grillby asked warily, worried that if Gaster knew, the rest of the crew might be aware as well.

 

Gaster glanced at the elemental surprised for a moment. “I have two troublemaker sons,” he finally said. “Of course I’d notice all four of you sneaking out of the bunkers.”

 

“so what’re you gonna do? snitch us out?” Sans asked, his tone still aggressive, though Gaster had been trying to keep it civil. He didn’t want  _ any _ of them to get into any trouble.

 

“I’m trying to talk some  _ sense _ into you,” Gaster said instead. “The captain will notice the prisoners are gone first things in the morning. They’ll come for you, and when they find you, you’re no longer going to be under their protection.  _ You’ll _ be their captives. All of you.”

  
  


“ohhhh noooo~” Death fake cried, looking shocked, actually getting a snort from Reaper.

  
  


Gaster glared at Death out of reflex, before actually seeing him and almost physically flinching away. He didn’t, but averted his eyes either way.

 

“We’re aware what we’re getting ourselves into, sir,” Grillby replied, before squeezing Death a little, as he glared down at him, letting him know he was not happy with his comments.

  
  


Death let out a small surprised squeak, like someone would make when checking the water temperature, only to pull back quickly. “oi!”

 

“WATCH IT, HE’S A SQUEAKER.” Reaper added, actually starting to laugh after seeing his brother’s betrayed face, not noticing Hearth’s lovestruck expression and quiet cooing of ‘So cute’ and ‘D’aawwwww!’. 

  
  


Grillby did, though, rolling his eyes a little, before giving Hearth a side glance. He really was heads over heels.

 

“So I cannot change your mind?” Gaster questioned, only to get determined faces to look back at him. He let out a sigh. “Very well then. Go ahead. I can’t very much stop you without getting you in trouble myself, it seems.”

  
  


“Really?” Hearth asked, doubtful that Gaster would just  _ let  _ them go. “That’s it?” He would have crossed his arms, but it was full with a skeleton pirate.

  
  


Gaster glanced at the elemental, not surprised at his skepticism. Gaster was surprised at himself, too. But really. “What do you expect me to do? You’ve all seemed to have made up your mind, despite knowing you will, from the moment the captain sees you’re gone, be wanted fugitives. Despite knowing what these two pirates have done. And I highly doubt either of you still respect my authority, least of all my sons.”

 

Death snorted out a laugh.

 

“If I tell the captain myself, they will stop you. They will see you as criminals, and it’ll be on my hands that my sons would be in this situation. The only thing I can really do is-”   
  
“we’re not taking you with us.”

  
  


“pfft!” Death turned his head to hide in Grillby’s neck, not trusting himself to be quiet.

  
  


“Sans!” Gaster replied, his voice stern and outraged, but he didn’t get a chance to chide him.

 

“No, he’s got a point,” Grillby muttered instead. “You’re the royal inventor, sir, you’re of importance. None of us would want you sacrificing that for our sake.”

 

“yea…” Sans muttered a bit awkwardly. “that’s why…”   
  
And that was the first moment Gaster actually realized that what Grillby was saying was true, his eyes widening in shock. If he’d go with his sons, he’d lose his job, his rank. He wouldn’t be the royal inventor anymore, would be an enemy to his friend king Asgore.

 

“No… No, this is bad,” he muttered out, suddenly starting to pace around. “How will I support my family? Where will I live?” He was muttering under his breath without end, Sans and Papyrus watching him curiously, before Papyrus decided to walk past him to the boat.

 

“Let’s get everything ready!” He said, deciding to let his dad have his mental breakdown for now.

  
  


Hearth didn’t need to be asked twice, placing Reaper on the boat and ushering Sans and Grillby on as well. He quickly rummaged in their supplies until he took out a leather raincoat, giving one to Grillby before grabbing one of his extras for himself. He was a fire monster after all, they will be strayed by water often, the leather would protect most of their body, only place unprotected is their faces.

 

He pushed Papyrus in before he told him to grab to the rope tied to the front of the boat, while he grabbed the back. “We have to do this in sinq, or else one side will go down lower faster and we all fall, got it?” He asked Papyrus.

  
  


Papyrus gave him a nod, but didn’t quite give him the go yet. Instead he glanced over to Gaster, still pacing around.

 

“Goodbye, dad! I love you!” He called over, catching Gaster’s attention.   
  
“bye pops,” Sans added, his hand waving up high as Hearth and Papyrus were already letting the boat down into the water.

 

“What? Wait!” Gaster called out, rushing over to the edge of the ship, looking down. “Wait, don’t go! Papyrus, Sans!”

  
  


“don’ worry, ‘ll take goooood care of dem!” Death called, laughing lightly, tapping Papyrus lightly with his tied up feet.

 

Gaster was looking down the edge of the ship as the little boat hit the water, hands tight around the railing. He was leaving his sons alone. With two pirates. He was letting them become criminals, leaving them alone this way.

 

But if he’d follow he’d lose everything he has. His rank, his friends, his protection under the king. 

 

_ Except his family. _

 

Gaster’s hands were tightening around the railing so hard it almost hurt. “Wait!” He finally called out, before jumping off the ship, trying to still get them.

 

“oh  _ fuck! _ ” Sans called out, quickly ducking as he saw his dad fall down and into the water, creating a small splash close to them, though not hitting them too much.

  
  


Hearth saw Gaster before he hit the water, moving quickly to stand in front of Grillby, his back to where Gaster will land. Thankfully the water just rolled off the leather, so he didn’t get hurt, but he also ended up protecting Death from the splash too, who was still sitting on Grillby’s lap.

 

“my hero.” Death said sarcastically, his face laying on Grillby’s chest.

 

Reaper was sitting next to Papyrus when it happened, he didn’t move besides turning his face away so his scarf wouldn’t have some extra weight and fall down.

  
  


“DAD!!!” Papyrus said excitedly as Gaster swam over to the small boat. He went to the edge of it, helping the ex royal inventor up.

 

“Thank you,” he panted out, water dripping into the boat much to everyone’s disdain. As if they didn’t already have enough issues with the idea of taking Gaster with them. “I can’t let my sons go alone.”   
  
“welcome to the criminal life, pops, y’re officially enemy of papa asgore,” Sans quipped teasing as he pulled Papyrus a little closer to him and Grillby and away from the puddle Gaster was forming. Though Papyrus opted to sit back down next to Reaper.

 

“Oh god… Oh god, I’m a fugitive…” Gaster breathed out, his face already in his hands, eyes wide and looking absolutely broken.

 

“...We warned you…”

  
  


“so wha ‘ere ya sayin’ ‘bout bein’ ‘nder da protection of da king ‘nd all?~ ya know, da t’ing ya been screechin’ ‘bout since we met ya?” Death giggled, looking at Gaster from his comfy place on Grillby’s lap, enjoying Grillby’s warmth  _ and  _ Gaster’s misery.

 

Hearth going to the bench behind them so he could start rowing, to put as much distance they could until morning.

  
  


Gaster frowned at the pirate’s comment, though didn’t grace it with a reply. Grillby did instead, squishing the small skeleton in his arms once more.

 

“Don’t be mean to him, behave.”

  
  


Death ignored Grillby’s words, instead looking at everyone on the boat, “sooo, ya freed us, cool. ‘ow ‘bout untiein’ us?” he asked, as polite as he can be, even batting his eye sockets, which no one could see, but easy to imagine. 

  
  


“nuh-uh.” Sans said, Gaster immediately agreeing with a quick, “No.”

 

Even Papyrus seemed conflicted, glancing over to Hearth for advice. “I DON’T THINK THAT WOULD BE THE BEST IDEA QUITE YET…” He muttered out hesitantly. “MAYBE WHEN IT’S EASIER TO TRUST YOU TWO???”

  
  


“whhaaa? wha ‘ave  _ we  _ done?” Death cooed, knowing fully well what he did, everyone else too. “ya can’ expect trust without givin’ it first!” Some old wise words he heard long ago, yet he couldn’t for the life of him remember where he heard it from. 

 

“‘nd eyyy, didn’ ya all walk freely when ya were with us, un’urt if i remember ‘ight?” Death giggled, grinning at them all like he pointed something critical out. 

 

“Uhhh,” Hearth said unhelpfully.

  
  


“W-WELL… I SUPPOSE YOU’RE RIGHT…” Papyrus muttered, before moving to get a hand on Death’s rope.

 

Only for Grillby to pull Death closer, a hand to Papyrus’ chest to stop him.

 

“I don’t think that’s a wise idea,” he said skeptically. “Sorry Papyrus, but they’re still very dangerous. I’d like to wait with the untying at least until we’re on land where they can’t kill us as easily as with a flick of a wrist.”

  
  


“es’cuse ya, i don’ ‘ave my scythes!” Death grumbled, letting his body tilt closer to Grillby’s body from the flame’s movement away from Papyrus, not minding the extra heat.

 

“IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE, WE ARE YOUR ONLY WAY.” Reaper chimed in, relaxed in his spot next to Papyrus, not really worried per say.

 

“oohh~ yup, ‘es ‘ight!” Death called, grinning wider than normal.

 

“Make it out alive? What do you mean by that?” Hearth looked at them both, confused by also having a sense of dread crawl up his back. What even made it worse was how the Reaper brothers went silent after that, more so how Death too, stopped talking. Which was surprising since how chatty he’s been since he found out he was getting freed.

  
  


“Oh god. Oh  _ god, _ ” Gaster whispered out, his voice absolutely desperate. “ _ We should’ve just stayed. _ ”   
  
“THEY WOULD HAVE DIED!!!” Papyrus reminded him.

 

“ _ We’re _ going to die!”

 

“you don’ know that,” Sans argued, though the words definitely made him feel as nervous as everyone else. “i ‘dunno wha’ they’ve got planned, but they’re at  _ our _ mercy right now, not the other way ‘round. 

 

“He’s right. You should be thankful,” Grillby muttered, his voice mostly tired, though there was a hint of annoyance. “Rather than making cryptic threats. We could let you die if we wanted to.”

  
  


“oh.” Death smiled. “ _ we  _ ‘ren’ da threats….”

 

“STAYING ON THE SHIP WOULD HAVE  _ ENSURED  _ YOUR DEATH…” Reaper muttered, looking down, replying to Gaster’s last comment.

  
  


There was a brief pause where everyone just sort of stared at the pirates terrified. Before Gaster snapped back to attention.

 

“See! They’re  _ pirates! _ They don’t feel thankful, they just-”   
  
“oh my god, dad, shut up. no one cares.”

 

“DON’T BE MEAN TO OUR FATHER, SANS, HE’S JUST WORRIED!”   
  
“he’s-”   
  
“Just.  _ Calm down. _ ” Grillby said, frowning at the family of skeletons now. “They’re playing mind games with you.”

  
  


“nope.” Death chirped.

  
  


Grillby ignored the pirate aside from a side glare down at him. “There’s really no point in bickering. Keep in mind that  _ all _ of you knew what you were getting yourself into when you decided to come.”

  
  


“ey. ey. ey grillby. ey. wan’ me ta remind ya of somet’ing?” Death giggled, leaning closer to Grillby’s face. “er…..  _ someone?” _ His grin stretched wide, like a cheshire cat, with the most evilest plot.

 

Hearth gasped behind Grillby, turning quickly to look at Death. “Captain Meister…..”

 

“yup!” Death made the ‘p’ pop, cheerful.

 

“WHY DID YOU THINK WE WEREN’T BOTHERING TO ESCAPE?” Reaper asked, his eye sockets starting to show a little mischief.

 

“look ‘o’s under da protection now!!!” Death called, laughing loudly. 

  
  


“ _ So it’s been all for nothi- _ ”   
  
“ _ shut up, _ ” Sans almost screamed at him. “ _ none _ of us are happy with this!  _ none _ of us wanted to become fugitives, let alone find out that  _ apparently _ we’ve done it for no  _ damn  _ reason either ‘cause they’ve never been in danger. but your complaining doesn’t make it… easier…”   
  
He had trailed off at the end as Papyrus came up to Sans, pulling him into a gentle hug. Before pulling a still wet Gaster into it as well.

 

“IT’S OKAY,” Papyrus told them surprisingly calmly. “WE DIDN’T KNOW. WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING GOOD AND WE DID. PLUS REAPER  _ DID _ SAY WE WOULD HAVE DIED IF WE WOULD HAVE STAYED.” He let go of them again, looking over both his father, still looking frightened, and Sans, looking frustrated and pouting. But they weren’t screaming at each other anymore, seemed to have calmed down at least a little.

 

He moved back to his seat next to Reaper, letting Sans and Gaster move back to theirs as well, Sans leaning slightly into Grillby, only to end up leaning against Death’s head and staying there.

  
  


“YOU GOT A SHOT AT LIVING SINCE YOU FREED US  _ WILLINGLY _ .” Reaper spoke softly, the moment he started talking about the very thing they all did.

 

“HOW DO YOU THINK MEISTER WILL TAKE IT WHEN HE HEARS YOU ALL GAVE UP  _ EVERYTHING  _ JUST TO FREE US?” Reaper asked, actually giving a warm smile to Papyrus, even if they couldn’t see his mouth, his warm smile reached to his eye sockets.

 

“t’anks…. fer dat.” Death muttered, now actually shoving his embarrassed face into Grillby’s neck to hide, already putting his part in their thank you so Reaper won’t bother him about it later. 

 

Reaper nodded, “WE APPRECIATE IT.”  _ ‘Because no one else would ever do what you did.’ _ was the unspoken words, the taller pirate leaning to Papyrus.

  
  


While Papyrus couldn’t see the smile, he still returned it just as warm and bright. “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” He told them cheerfully.

  
  


“da t’anks only applys ta d’ose two idiots.” Death jumped up to mention, making Hearth laugh. He leaned backward to look at Death over Grillby’s shoulder. 

 

“You’re quite welcome Death… Reaper.”

 

Death nodded in reply, satisfied. 


	15. cutting ties

“ya mind me sleepin’ on ya? ya kinda came ‘round when i was finally goin’ ta.” Death asked Grillby, who he was still sitting on his lap. He didn’t wait for a answer, only shoved his head in Grillby’s neck and got as comfortable as he could, leaching all the heat he could from the flame.

  
  


“...I suppose not,” Grillby muttered a little awkwardly, though he was giving Hearth a questioning look if he might want to take over. He really didn’t mind, Sans was already fast asleep with his body leaning half on Grillby and half on Death. Though he didn’t want to look like he was taking anything potential away from his best friend, when he knew how lovestruck he was over him.

  
  


‘Can you take over then?’ Hearth mouthed, pointing with his eyes to the pedals. He would  _ love  _ to hold Death, with the cute skeleton curled up and sleeping in his arms. Oh the complete joy he would have.

  
  


Grillby gave him a soft smile and nod, before moving Death in his hold a little.   
  
“Though I think it’s time I take over paddling duty. You can sleep on Hearth instead,” the elemental said, ready to trade positions with the other elemental.

  
  


They moved Sans gently, enough so Grillby and slide away and for Hearth to take his place, letting Sans back down to lean on Hearth. Only then did Grillby pass Death over to Hearth, who cradled Death close.

 

“k, dis is ok too, still warm.” Death muttered, burrowing his head into Hearth’s neck, making the flame almost scream in glee. Death got himself comfortable and laid down to rest, while Hearth looked at Grillby with the biggest smile he has ever made and pointed excitedly at Death from behind the skeleton’s back.

 

Mouthing ‘look look!!’ at Grillby like an excited child.

  
  


Grillby snorted out a quiet laugh at Hearth’s behaviour, and another when he noticed just how adorable it looked how both of the small skeletons were on him, sleeping. Maybe things weren’t going to be so bad after all, he mused as he began paddling the boat.

 

-

 

“feed me.” Death commanded, staring at Sans. Hearth had fallen asleep at one point holding him, Grillby was busy paddeling and Reaper and Papyrus had fallen asleep leaning against each other. And like  _ hell  _ he was going to let Gaster feed him, he would rather bite the man’s fingers off than let him hand feed him food.

  
  


Sans was groaning, half asleep on the elemental himself. “can’ you jus’ sleep like everyone else, you irresistible loud pirate.”

 

He didn’t even have his eyes open yet, but was reaching with his hand to Death’s face, trying to cover his mouth to shush him. He was absolutely not awake enough to use his brain.

  
  


Death flinched the second the hand came close, too close. He didn’t know what it was going to do and it was really getting close to his eye sockets. So Death did the only thing someone tied up can do, bite it.

 

“don’ touch my sockets!” Death almost yelled, talking quickly, leaning away as far as he could.

  
  


Sans yelped himself, quickly pulling his hand back as he felt the bite, eyes wide and startled, suddenly very awake. Gaster, too, had reacted now, looking towards the two startled, yet tired.

 

“Are you okay!?” He asked Sans, only to get a small nod back from him.

 

“...didn’ mean t’ touch anything,” Sans muttered out finally, his voice quieter than usually, rubbing his eye sockets a little as he finally started to wake up. “sorry. i’ll getcha some food.”

 

He leaned over to where they had stored their food, reaching in to grab the first thing he could find, which was some pickled fish. He opened the jar, before picking up one of the fish pieces straight with his hands, holding it towards Death, uncaring - and quite frankly too tired to care - of the liquid he was dripping on Hearth.

  
  


Death opened his mouth, his tongue sticking out slightly to catch some liquid that would have gotten on himself if he haden’t. “t’anks.” Taking the fish pieces quietly, not complaining about the food. When you are starved and often scavenge for food, you learn not to be picky. So Death ate, ate everything Sans had offered him, sometimes Sans’ fingers would get into his mouth when he moved the fish too close, but Death never minded or cared when his blue saliva got on the other’s fingers.

  
  


Neither did Sans, really, he knew that was a consequence of having to feed someone. Though if he already had a tied up pirate at his mercy, he might as well mess with him. Ain’t like  _ Death _ hadn’t messed with them in his own way. So Sans waited until Death was paying attention, before leading his own fingers covered in Death’s blue saliva to his mouth, licking it up slowly, while giving Death a wink.

 

_ Now he’s thrown him off his rhythm. _

  
  


Death stared at him for a while, unmoving. “dat’ ‘nsanitary.” He pointed out, but otherwise unfazed.

 

Sexual things had always gone over the Reaper brother’s heads, unless it was obvious that someone was referring to sex, then they would be disgusted and down right refuse every bit of it. Claiming it was the worst thing to ever exist and they don’t understand why someone would do it outside the purpose of continuing their generation if needed. 

  
  


Sans watched Death a little taken aback, fingers in his mouth, feeling oddly… disappointed. He had expected at least  _ some _ kind of reaction, but guess not. 

 

“...anyways,” Sans muttered awkwardly now, getting the fingers out of his mouth and wiping them off on Hearth, before picking up the last piece of fish, holding it towards Death. 

 

“so why’d ya help pappy, anyways?” He muttered out after he had fed Death the last piece, screwing the jar shut again and putting it back to the rest of the food.

  
  


“...” Death looked away, first at the the sea, then at Papyrus. Thinking of the words or just not planning to answer, either way, Death didn’t say anything for a while.

 

“... i…… wha da ya mean...?” Death asked, deciding not to answer quite yet. He doesn’t know what or when Sans was referring to, and he didn’t want to say too much on the real reason.

  
  


“y’ could’ve just let ‘im fall down the cliff,” Sans muttered out, his own voice quiet, like he felt like talking about it would cause it to happen. “could’a’ve beat him up instead of… what you did. no one was stoppin’ ya. y’ didn’ gain anything from lettin’ him live. hell, y’ even would’a’ve gotten saved either way. so  _ why _ be nice to him? why not just kill him like you do with everyone else?”

 

It’s been really bothering him since they decided to rescue the pirates. No, longer, which  _ really _ was the reason Sans was here in the first place.

 

He was  _ conflicted. _ Couldn’t wrap his head around why they would  _ do _ something like that. Why they would be nice to him. Pirates like them, who didn’t hesitate a second to kill anyone they saw. Who almost  _ killed Sans. _

 

Yet they had played with Papyrus, had saved him, had taken a beating to protect him.

 

“‘t doesn’ make any sense…”

  
  


“maybe ta ya,” Death muttered, his gaze never leaving Papyrus’ form, all cuddled up to Reaper like he was some soft of plush toy. It was cute, if you would take away the rope tying his dear brother down.

 

“but not ta us.” Death finished, this time looking up at Sans. “dat is kinda personal, somet’ing i don’ trust ya with, like ya don’ trust me.” It sounded like there was a but coming.

 

“but…” There it is. “if ya free me, ‘ll tell ya, honest.” Death looked at Sans’ face as best as he could, with his position on a slumping Hearth and having to have his body in a awkward and painful position on his back to keep himself balanced on the flame’s lap.

  
  


Sans was watching Death with wide eyes, intently, not actually having expected a response, even if it was just Death telling him it was too personal. But the way he said it, the way they were talking, hushed voices to not wake anyone, made it all feel so normal. Made it feel like Sans was talking to someone he could potentially get along with, rather than a pirate that had swung a scythe at him.

 

And there was a moment, a long, drawn out moment, where Sans almost wanted to free him. Not even entirely because he wanted to have his answer, but because he knew what it felt like to be tied up. He remembered how helpless he felt, how scared, how dependant.

 

But he managed to stop himself before he quite could.

 

“heh, no can do,” Sans said, though his voice sounded sort of disappointed. “sorry, ‘s not even ‘bout me an’ what i think. but i’m not… risking  _ anythin’ _ if ‘s all a them that could get in danger. is ‘s papyrus… sorry.” The last part was quieter, mumbled into Hearth’s arm he was leaning against.

  
  


“yer talkin’ like ‘m gonna kill ya, when da last time ya saved me we spared yer lives. ya do it ‘gain yet ‘pect different results…” Death muttered, but he nodded, twisting his body back to how it was, with his back towards Sans and his head facing away, face into Hearth’s neck. “but i get it, no worries.”

  
  


Sans still felt bad, though. He shouldn’t. There was nothing wrong in being wary. Being safer. He didn’t know the pirates well enough to be able to tell they wouldn’t harm them, they had  _ swung a scythe at him _ before.

 

Sans turned so he was lying back, his head resting on Hearth’s lap. Though he couldn’t exactly sleep anymore.

 

Was he really any better than the pirates keeping them tied up like that? He had a point, saying that last time they saved them, they didn’t hurt them either. And Papyrus trusted them.  _ Papyrus _ would’ve untied them…

 

Sans let out a quiet groan, hands on his face, before he sat up again. He searched through his pocket for a small dagger, before reaching over Hearth, gently moving the elemental’s arms so Sans could reach the ropes with the blade, cutting them through quickly.

 

It wasn’t the smoothest work, both because Sans wanted it over with quick, but also because he had been shaking during it. But once it was done, it was done, and he pocketed the dagger again immediately, before turning to lie on Hearth’s lap again without a word.

 

Well, maybe some words.

 

“don’ gotta tell me ‘bout your private stuff, ‘s private for a reason.”

  
  


Death stared at the rope on the boat’s floor, his eye sockets wide. He didn’t move for a while now, staring at the rope, then at Sans, then back at the rope. After it finally registered that he was free, Death got up to stretch, his bones popping here and there. 

 

Then he sat down on the boat floor, in front of Sans. The boat was big enough for at least thirty people, mostly for when the ship has been sunk and the people on board need a get away with as many as possible. 

 

Death laid a hand on Sans’ foot, to get his attention. “‘e reminds me of someone.” Death finally said, his voice quiet, “reminds  _ us. _ ” He corrected after a moment's thought.

 

“acts a lot like em too, likes ta know everyt’in’,  _ very  _ merciful, cheerful ‘nd optimistic…… d’eir gone now…” Death whispered the last part real softly, yet just barely manageable to be heard. “people like dat just makes ya wan’ ta protect dem…. ya know?”

  
  


Sans had rolled over to face Death at one point, but had stayed quiet, listening intently.

 

“yea,” he muttered out. “i was terrified when i heard the ship paps was on got attacked. i wasn’  _ there _ to protect ‘im and he might’ve gotten hurt ‘cause a that.”   
  
Sans pulled his legs closer, like he wanted to curl up into a ball, hide, yet he kept looking straight at Death.

 

“‘m terrified now,” he whispered out quietly. “i ‘dunno what’ll happen. you almost killed me some days back. captain meister wan’ed to hurt papyrus. we’ve gotten  _ lucky _ so far, but fuck. how long?”

  
  


“dat depen’s on ‘ow far yer willin’ ta go.” Death answered, resting his arm on the bench Sans was laying on and then laying his head on his arm. “ya doin’ pretty good, ta tell da truth. don’ wanna kill most of ya, yer growin’ on me.”

 

Death grinned, and laughed lightly, “jus’ t’ink, a row of idiot ducklin’s followin’ me ‘nd my bro, hehe~” Death was teasing again, his voice more carefree and easy. There was also a hint of challenge there somewhere.

  
  


“yea?” Sans said back, with a slight chuckle in his voice. “didn’ know the ducklings were the ones that had to save their mama duck.”

 

He paused briefly, thinking over the words once more, before letting out another, more tense laugh. 

 

“guess y’re right ‘bout the idiot part, though,” he sighed out, before moving a little to look at Death intently, his eyes almost begging. “i… don’ know what i’m thinkin’, but… please don’ make me regret cutting your ties…” 

  
  


“hmm?” Death hummed curiously, tilting his head. “dat depen’s on ya, ‘nd wha ya approve of.” Death said lightly, not really sounding all that worried. 

 

“but if yer worried ‘bout someone gettin’ ‘urt, den ya don’ need ta. i don’ plan ta.” Death gave a lopsided smile, almost to seem to try to reassure Sans in a subtle way.

  
  


And it worked. Maybe not entirely, maybe Sans was still a little worried. But he oddly enough didn’t feel like Death was lying. He oddly enough wasn’t regretting cutting the ropes.


	16. everyone is sweet here!..... except for gaster....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo its my (gaylies) birthday!

Death had talked about his adventures with his brother to find treasure, all the traps and puzzles they faced on the way, and the funny and exciting moments when things go wrong. Sans talked about his cool brother, Papyrus, the big ball of pure sunshine.

 

They talked through the night, laughing and talking quietly. Not wanting to wake the others, those two being the only two awake.

 

By morning, they were still at it, up until Hearth groaned, opening his eyes slowly. 

 

Death looked at the flame, nudging Sans to get him to notice too. “well look ‘os awake!” The pirate leaned into the flame, having migrated onto Hearth’s lap again, splayed out on his stomach. 

 

Hearth focused on the words and looked at the monster speaking them, noticing Death. At first he didn’t exactly remember that he last seen Death in ropes, but now with his brain catching up, his breath hitched.

 

“Uhh…?”

 

“hi.” Death waved lazily.

  
  


Sans looked up at Hearth as well, eyes slightly guilty and apologetic, though not really enough for him to make him regret his decision.

 

“don’ really gotta tell you ‘ow this boy has his way of charmin’ right into your core, do i?” He asked simply.

  
  


‘re ya complimentin’ me sans?” Death cooed, his mouth turning more impish. “i t’ought ya ‘ad be’der stan’ders~” 

 

Hearth looked at both Death and Sans, back and forth, confused and shocked. “You… freed him..?” He straighten, forcing Death to scramble to righten himself or he’ll run the risk of falling. Hearth quickly grabbed onto the pirate, pulling him close, so he was sitting on his lap once again.

 

“ya really like me ‘ere don’ cha?” Death muttered absently.

  
  


Now Sans was actually growing slightly nervous. Mostly because he hadn’t actually planned this far. Hadn’t planned to what their reactions might be, what he’d say.

 

“i… felt bad…” He muttered out eventually. “i  _ know _ wha’ it’s like to be tied up an’ dependant like that and… i ‘dunno. i somehow thought it’d be ok… ‘t  _ is _ ok, ‘e ain’t hurtin’ anyone!” He was getting defensive at the end, not knowing how Hearth was going to react, but anxious he’d be mad at him either way. That he would disagree. 

  
  


“Oh! Well, he  _ is  _ just relaxing! I think you made the right call!” Hearth smiled widely, before pulling Death into a hug, making the skeleton in question stumble on his words.

 

“w-w-wha!?” Death stammered, his cheeks growing blue, while his mouth became uneasy and fidgety. His tone was quieter and slightly shaking, “w-wha ‘re y-ya doin’?” hands going to Hearth’s shoulders to push him away lightly.

 

Hearth looked to the pirate’s face, first in shock, but then his grin grew. “Are you… getting shy?~”

 

“n-no!” Death snapped back, squirming in Hearth’s iron grip. “ugh, stop it!” But it was hard to take him seriously when he was getting cuddled, face rubbed against the flame’s affectionately, not to mention his voice wasn’t half as demanding or harsh as he tried to be.

  
  


“d’awww, death,” Sans cooed leaning onto Hearth slightly to be able to see the pirate better. “tha’s a good look on you. think i’ve got my standards just right.”

 

Though their teasing had been loud enough for them to wake Grillby, the other monster rousing slowly. He didn’t know what the noise was about at first, didn’t think it’d be anything special. Until he actually had a few moments to wake up, suddenly spotting Death in Hearth’s arms.  _ Untied. _ With the rope lying on the boats floor.

 

“Oh no…” He breathed out quietly, eyes glancing up to Hearth. “ _ Really? _ ”

  
  


“What?” Hearth asked, shrugging at his friend, slightly confused what’s the problem. “I was only teasing him, just look how cute his face gets~” He cooed the last part at Death, who huffed angrily, squirming in his arms.

 

“‘m bein’ manhan’led!” Death cried out, “d’ere  _ both  _ dicks!”

  
  


“That’s not… what?” Grillby was taken aback, not sure what to make out of the scene before him. Though the others were starting to slowly wake up as well and  _ they  _ sure did.

 

“He’s not-! Why is he not-!?” Gaster was stammering, eyes wide in shock almost since the second he woke up.

 

“Y...Yea, that’s what I’d like to know as well,” Grillby finally muttered.

 

“‘e wasn’ ‘urting anyone,” Sans muttered out, hiding a little bit behind Hearth as he now felt interrogated.

 

“Yes, because he was  _ tied up! _ That was a  _ good thing, _ Sans!”   
  
“no ‘t was not,” Sans scoffed to his dad. “c’mon. ‘e wasn’t hurtin’ us back then either. an’ we all know ‘ow miserable it feels to be tied up.”   
  
“Sans, do you  _ realize _ what you have done!?” Gaster asked, his voice having that edge, that specific edge when he was trying to seem calm and civil, but was obviously fuming.

 

“i do.” Sans replied coldly, though. “an’ i don’ regret it.”

 

Which was definitely not  _ supposed _ to be the end of this, though Papyrus  _ decided _ to make it, by interrupting them before either party could throw in another biting argument.

 

“DOES THAT MEAN I CAN FREE REAPER, TOO???”

  
  


“YES.” Reaper chimed in, looking bored on the boat floor.

 

“if yer not gonna do it, i sure will.” Death added his own two cents too, he moved to be behind Hearth, closer to Sans, pulling him a little closer subtly. Like he was trying to shield him the moment he saw Sans shying away behind Hearth. “not gonna make much of a diff’ra’nce.” 

  
  


Sans almost startled when he felt Death pull him slightly closer, fearing he might attack after all. But he didn’t. And Sans didn’t flinch. And when he realized what had actually happened, he felt his face slightly heat up, though didn’t lose a word about it.

 

“And with what tools?” Gaster seemed to challenge the pirate, before his eyes widened fearfully. “Sans, you didn’t give him a knife, did you!?”   
  
“no, pops, ‘m sure ‘e knows how to untie knots, though,” Sans huffed out, before giving Papyrus a nod. “go ‘head. ain’t ‘xactly fair if we don’t.”

 

“OKAY!!!” Papyrus chirped happily, before carefully working open the tight knots around the pirate.

  
  


Reaper watched silently as Papyrus worked through the rope, getting up the second he could once he was free, stretching. “OH, THAT FEELS GOOD!” He cheered mutely, bones popping here and there, before petting Papyrus’ head twice.

 

“MUCH BETTER.”

 

Death hummed, pushing Sans to sit down and following right after, now sitting between Hearth and Sans, relaxed and at ease.

 

“SHOULD I ASSUME YOU MADE SOME SORT OF TRUCE WHILE I WAS RESTING BROTHER?” Reaper turned to look at Death, sitting down in the process. 

 

“sort of.” Death murmured, leaning onto Sans and putting a arm around him, “dis guy did it, ain’ ‘e da sweetest~” Death cooed, his grin right back onto his face, head on Sans’ shoulder, like they were good pals.

 

“I SEE.” Reaper mused, pleased. “HE IS VERY SWEET YES.” He absently played along to Death’s shenanigans easily, far used to them.

  
  


Sans was still a little taken aback, though he caught on, placing his own arm around Death’s shoulder. 

 

“yep,” he said, though his voice was playfully exhausted, like he was admitting to some great favor he’s done. “‘m just the sweetest, aren’ i?” And he glanced at Hearth at the end of that, eyes sparkling with the biggest, most shit eating grin on his face as he was sure Hearth would love to be in his place.

  
  


Hearth  _ indeed _ wanted to be in his place, huffing and turning to Death with a new glint in his eyes. “I’m sweet too, right?” Curling his back slightly to be at the same height of Death’s face.

 

“sure?” Death laughed lightly, his other arm going to pat Hearth’s head twice. “yer sweet.” Death didn’t really mind the contact, maybe a little surprised when Sans put his arm around him, making his smile twitch when his cheeks warmed at the touch. And with Hearth it wasn’t so bad either, kinda nice actually.

 

Hearth took the praise, smiling wide, making Reaper raise a bone brow and snort.

  
  


Grillby was watching then interact, oddly, yet positively surprised. Yes, he knew that the pirates had been nice to Papyrus before, but… seeing them interact with everyone else so nicely was still a surprise to him. A surprise he was glad about.

 

Hearth, Death and Sans seemed to be having fun, Papyrus and Reaper were getting along well, the only one that was still alone and pouting was Gaster, though… he figured he’d need more time adjusting. He was only yet in stage two of the five stages of grief.

 

-

 

They sailed for a while, death at one point asking them what was their plan after they freed them. Where would they go? What was the next step? What were you expecting to happen after?

 

He was met with silence.

 

Then Death facepalmed.

 

Only after a while longer two ships came into view, Reaper and Death cheering when they saw one of them was their beloved Reaper ship, thankfully the other belonged to Meister.

 

The ships sailed straight to them, when they got close, both ships flanked the little boat, angry crew members looking down at them with not so friendly intent.

 

“‘urt dem an’ face  _ me!” _ Death called, finally summoning out his signature scythe, bigger than his body, white and  _ huge _ . The crew seemed to back down mostly.

 

Death turned to Gaster with a smug look, the inventor shivering in pure terror. “was plannin’ ta cut da rope with dis~”

 

“Death, Reaper!” Meister called from one of the ships, waving at them. “Get your asses up here!”

 

“CAN WE GET YOUR WORD THAT THESE PEOPLE WON’T BE HARMED!?” Reaper called, getting up as well. 

 

Captain Meister looked confused, looking at the ones that were with them “Why? Weren’t they your prisoners?”

 

“dey rescued us when dey didn’ ‘ave ta.” Was all Death replied, Meister’s face became like stone, before he nodded curtly. 

 

“You have my word.”

 

Death turned to the rest, motioning his head to the ladder being dropped down for them, massive blade on his shoulder shining from the sunlight. “get on.”

  
  


“ARE… YOU SURE ABOUT THIS?” Papyrus asked slightly nervous. “HE HURT YOU LAST TIME…”

  
  


“i trust em.” Death answered easily.

  
  


Papyrus still didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he did eventually go up the ladder, Sans following after next, then Hearth, then Grillby and Gaster.

 

“Maybe, if I find my way back, the king can still forgive me…”   
  
“Wouldn’t risk it,” was all Grillby added to the inventor, as they both went up the ladder as well.

 

As soon as they were up, Sans went to his brother protectively, holding him close and practically glaring daggers at the unfriendly captain.

  
  


Death and Reaper came up last, running to Meister and slamming into him. Meister wrapped his arms around them both, resting his head on their skulls. “You two gave me quite the scare, my little troublemakers~”

 

“dat wha we do~” Death responded easily.

 

Meister nodded, letting go of them gently, “Now tell me what happened.” Reaper nodded, already moving to the Captain’s room, Death following.

 

“You all follow us.” Meister added to the group, waving them over.

  
  


Though still wary and skeptically, the rest of them followed as well, Sans, Papyrus and Gaster sticking close together, the older two not once faltering to glare at the captain in front of them. Grillby meanwhile was more wary about the pirates surrounding them, sticking close to Hearth as he kept a close eye on his surroundings, following the rest of the group as well.

 

-

 

Turns out Meister was separated from them at some point, leaving the Reaper’s ship unguarded since the brother’s thought they were safe under his watch. When he came back to find them, they were gone, and went to search for the Reaper ship.

 

Took him awhile, but he found it, easily overpowering the crew and taking over. At that point during the story, Meister have given back the Brother’s chained scythes, who happily took it back.

 

Meister had been worried after finding them not on either ship, yet their ship was there, and their weapons thrown in the cargo like nothing. Really scared the poor dude into a frenzy.

 

That was when Reaper explained to him what had happened, and what this group has done for them.

 

Meister looked real grateful, yes they would have been set free anyways, but it was the thought that counted. The thought of all these monsters were throwing everything away for these two criminals.

 

“I want you two to leave, I need to talk to the rest of these folks privately.” The Captain ordered, Death looked like he was about to complain, but Reaper shushed him and pulled him to his feet.

 

“They won’t be harmed in any way, I promise, they just need to know a few things.” Meister nodded towards the brothers, making them finally leave.

 

Meister’s elbows rested on the table they all sat at, his head in his hands. “So. You saved the Reaper brothers…. why? And give me your true intentions.”

 

“We didn’t want them to die!” Hearth started them off, already with defensive. 

  
  


“THEY HELPED ME WHEN I WAS IN DANGER!” Papyrus added as well. “AND THEY’VE BEEN REALLY NICE! I DIDN’T WANT THEM TO HAVE TO DIE.”

 

Grillby and Sans were both glancing at each other, not sure whether they should contribute as well or not, since they had mostly come for Hearth’s and Papyrus’ sake. Though eventually Sans spoke as well, voice little.

 

“they took your beatin’ to protect my brother,” he muttered out. “an’ i know this was probably the stupidest, most reckless thing i’ve done so far, but… couldn’t’ve let ‘em die either. wouldn’t’ve been fair…”

 

Grillby nodded to what the skeleton was saying, agreeing with anything the others had said so far. He hasn’t had his own reasons to save them, really. He still thought it was an incredibly stupid thing to do.

  
But everyone brought valid points. Heartfelt, valid points. And he could tell they were all genuine. So even if Grillby didn’t exactly think saving the pirates had been a smart plan, he didn’t regret it any more than those three would.

  
  


Meister nodded, “So your own morals and emotions are the reason. Well, I’m not really surprised that  _ you  _ are treated nicer…” Meister looked at Papyrus, his face grown more solemn. “You see… you are a lot like someone they used to know…”

  
  


Sans perked up a little, though tried not to make it noticable, having heard something like that before.

  
  


“They had a friend, before I found them… His name was Carbon. Pretty energetic and sweet boy,  _ alot  _ like you,” Pointing at Papyrus yet again. “Sadly though, he died at a very young age. Murdered by the ones that had them all imprisoned…” Meister looked at the door, like he was expecting the two idiots to come bursting in with no care in the world. 

 

“Have you all ever heard of Sick Joe? The one that had that horrible place that did unspeakable things to the prisoners?  _ Dun’s Hole _ ?” He asked lightly.

  
  


They shuddered. Papyrus might be the only one who knew the details - from books and stories he’s heard - but every one of them has heard those words before, has learnt to disgust them. It was on line with the reaper brothers being a horror tale to tell little children to scare them, though most people even found this one too horrible for that purpose.

  
  


The Dun’s Hole is a  _ very  _ horrible place. They would take anyone from any age, young, old, you name it. And they would  _ torture  _ you. Whipping, breaking bones, hard core labor you are expected to do each and every day without fail, even with injuries, or then you will get more. Rape, no matter what age. Forced to eat spoiled rotten foods, beaten to a pulp if it amuses them. Everything. It is a dark, dim lighted place, only horror is spoken of it.

 

Sick Joe got his nickname for a damn good reason. He was sick. Sick in the head. It was disgusting how he loved ripping skin and flesh off living people, to pound into screaming little children, make elderly do very dangerous jobs that require physical strength, or they die a painful, slow death. Screams are heard none stop, never a quiet moment, even in the night. There is  _ no  _ mercy for  _ anyone _ of any shape or form.

 

_ No one  _ has ever escaped there.  _ No one  _ has survived. It was the place everyone feared, only having nightmares about even your wildest nightmares could never compare to that hell those huge buildings.

 

Yes. Buildings. More than one.

 

They were all over, untouchable. All ruled by Sick Joe.

 

He is a  _ very  _ feared man…

 

“I found them.. there… when I went to one of them to save some of my crew that were captured…” Meister whispered, softly, like Reaper and Death could hear him. “It was too late for me to save their friend… all three of them were so,  _ so young _ ...”

  
  


“THAT… IS HORRIBLE,” Papyrus breathed out, his eyes wide and worried. The most noise Sans made was a sickly groan, while Grillby and Gaster stayed quiet completely. Hearth grabbed onto the table tightly, looking sick. Though it was clear on all of their faces, that they were horrified. That they hadn’t expected something like this.

 

A place like that was on a level of so bad, that sometimes you’d forget it was real. That sometimes you’d forget people  _ went _ through that. Let alone the fact that it was thought no one ever came out of it alive.

 

It made… sense why the brothers would have grown up the way they had. Not entirely, of course, they didn’t know the details. Horrifying abuse didn’t make you a bloodhungry pirate, though it looked suddenly a lot less bad on their behalf.

 

It… for the most part just looked like they were lucky. So,  _ so _ lucky that they weren’t there anymore.

  
  


“Their friend was dying when I found them, they were so worried about them, it was the only emotions I saw from them for a while.” Meister rubbed the back of his head, uncomfortable with remembering how they once were. “I took them… I don’t know what came over me… but… I took them with me.”

 

“It took a long while for me to get through to them, they were emotionless husks after Carbon’s death. They wouldn’t react to almost nothing, only harsh commands…. fuck… and even  _ that  _ was worse! Just… how they will let themselves get beat… and when I took them to bath, they thought i wa-wanted… to… to… they presented themselves… fuck…” Meister stopped talking after that, needing to compose himself for a moment.

 

When he felt like he could continue, he looked up. “ The only way I got through to them was their anger, I asked if they wanted to learn to fight, protect themselves. They did. We bonded off of that, and they slowly let me teach them about other things besides learning to kill… Though they have this odd thing with gore, I don’t know what they’ve been through in there, nor do I ever want to, but whatever happened, I feel they got that weird quirk from there.” The Captain knows too well what the Reaper brothers do with bodies, and he knows they must too.

 

They did know, they know very clearly. Hearth could remember when they first found the ship that Gaster and Papyrus once was, covered and decorated like it was, the smell was unbearable. 

  
  


Sans could still feel the blood and guts on his hand when he had seen the ship, blending everything around him out and trying to wipe then off the boat like it was nothing. Though the memory alone was still enough to almost make Sans’ stomach churn.

 

And the others weren’t a lot better off either. They’ve all seen Gaster’s ship. All had to go through what might have been the most gruesome remainder of a battle they had ever seen. 

  
  


“I don’t know what happened while they were in there, Like I said, they never told me. But I noticed a few things… a few things that told me what happened..” Meister winced hard. “They…  _ do not  _ tolerate sex, even touching them on their pelvis or femurs would set them off, they see sex as rape. Brutal, painful and just a nightmare. I had once heard them say they didn’t see the point of doing it besides making babies. They really don’t see the pleasure that could be in it. Because of this, they never bothered to learn more flirtatious things, so they won’t understand if you try it on them. Yet  if they figure out you are trying to get in their pants… they go  _ berserk. _ ”

 

Meister shivered, like he was trying to forget a fateful day. Instead he tried to focus on the tea cups, with a nice creamy tea in each cup for all of them. They must have grown cold…

 

“Another thing I noticed is their faces… Death’s eyes, and Reaper’s mouth. They won’t let  _ anyone  _ see them… I don’t know what’s under, but they will go insane to keep it covered. Death fought tooth and nail find a cloth he could see through while others can’t, Reaper never ate around people… Never try taking them off…”

 

Meister sighed, slumping into his seat, “These are the kids you just saved, the scared, messed up kids you decided to throw everything away for.” The Captain gave them a smile. “You didn’t know them, yet you did what you did. I love these boys very much, so much. And you decided to act, for them. I can never repay you enough for that, that is why I want you all to live. So this is my proposition.” He said matter of factly, now from story serious to business serious.

 

“You can stay with us, become apart of our crew, or we could drop you off to anywhere you’d wish to go. How does that sound?” Meister straighten, like he was going to do business with trades, yet his smile was still there.

  
  


That… was a  _ lot _ to take in. A lot more any of them had been prepared for.  _ So much more _ any of them had been prepared for, considering they hadn’t been prepared in the damn least.

 

But Grillby knew those foolish reckless boys around him, so he felt like his answer was based on time, like he had to speak up before either of them could get themselves into something that just would bring them in more trouble.

 

“We appreciate your offers, captain Meister,” the elemental therefore spoke quickly. “Though we need some time to think about this and to recover, before making any long-lasting decisions.”  _ He was not gonna let any of them get into half-baked plans anymore. _

 

Papyrus seemed surprised at Grillby’s words, for one because he had actually been all but ready to accept staying with them, seeing as he had no experience whats-o-ever in being a fugitive. Though he didn’t complain. If the adults wanted to spend hours talking about whether they should do the clearly obvious correct thing or something that has no benefit to them in any way, he won’t stop them! He knows they’ll feel better after that.

  
  


“That is fine.” The captain nodded, already getting up, “I’m going to check if my boys have stayed out of trouble.” He opened and closed the door quietly, smiling softly as he went.

 

“Uhh…” Hearth muttered, “I guess I was right about us not knowing what they might have been through…?” It had been one of his defences, when Sans and Grillby pulled them aside to talk.

  
  


Sans let out an uncomfortable groan, arms crossed and eyes avoidant. “kinda wish y’ wouldn’t’ve been,” he muttered out, not meant at all to attack Hearth, but simply point out his disdain to what he’s just heard.

 

And really, the others could only agree, still looking either incredibly uncomfortable or straight up nauseous.

 

“I don’t think we should discuss this right away,” Grillby finally muttered out. “Whether we should stay or ask them to drop us off somewhere, I mean. Hearth do… you think we can ask them if we could stay a day or two?”

  
  


“We can try…” Hearth muttered, getting up slowly, already knowing he will be the one to do it since the flame asked  _ him _ . But before he could move any more, the door was kicked open.

 

Death poked his head in, snorting at them. “ya guys look like ya went t’rough ‘ell.” He pointed out, looking more amused about the fact rather than worried.

 

Hearth laughed sarcastically, starting to move towards the pirate, “Death, maybe it’s good you came now, we want to ask a favor.” The skeleton perked at that, curious. “Captain Meister had gave us choices for us to follow, but we want to sit on it for awhile. Can we maybe stay here for a few days until we make up our minds?”

 

Death hummed in thought, leaning into the frame of the door, “if ya wanna stay fer a bit, ya guys gonna ‘av’ta sleep in my ship, not ‘ere.” Death motioned around them, to this ship they were on currently. 

 

“Yes, that’s no problem, thank you!” Hearth said, nodding and beaming down at him brightly.

 

Death only looked away, muttering a quiet, arms crossed. “yer welcome.”

  
  


“Thank you,” Grillby said as well, while the rest stayed especially quiet,  _ especially _ in the face of Death. After everything they’ve heard, it was hard to see him in the light they’ve seen him in before. It was hard to not let their emotions pour out on them, but at the same time, no one truly believed that would be a good thing.

 

“I... think it’s time for a break right now anyway.”


	17. hearth and grillby have a gay moment

They’ve been staying on the reaper brother’s ship for a day and a half, some of them trying to recover by themselves, trying to sort themselves out, others by trying to go along their ‘usual’ day helping along on the ship. Though they’ve all been at least a little more avoidant and closed off than usually, with exception of Papyrus who seemed to make an extra effort in spending his time with the reaper brothers.

 

Though after they’ve had said day and a half, they decided to finally have their discussion about what to do. They were in one of the bunkers, alone aside from the five of them, though it wasn’t exactly a surprising sight on this ship.

 

“so,” Sans began, his voice oddly curious. “anyone’s got a plan? like, at all?”   
  
“STAY WITH THEM!” Papyrus replied without hesitation, getting a surprised glance from Grillby. So the young skeleton went on. “WELL, WE’RE NOT EXACTLY WELCOME UNDER REGULAR PEOPLE ANYMORE, WE’RE CRIMINALS. AND THE PIRATES KNOW BETTER HOW TO HANDLE THAT THAN WE DO!”

 

“an amazing point brought up by papyrus,” Sans said, deciding he might as well do the commentary in this. “but it was nothing to grillby’s fierce counter-attack.”   
  
“What?” Grillby asked surprised, getting a shrug from Sans when he looked at him. “Well… We would be fugitives, but not everyone will know about us. There’ll be places we could hide and live. There’s places outside the reign of king Asgore.”

 

“now that’s a good point. but it’s gonna be nothing compa-”

  
  


“Sans. Stop.” Hearth sighed, “This is serious.” 

  
  


Sans gave Hearth a small glare, before slumping down to the ground with a sigh. “fine. wha’ever. i agree with paps, though. don’ ‘xactly wanna live life on the run.”

  
  


Hearth didn’t pay much attention to Sans’ glare, but he did slightly falter when he decided to add his own thoughts. “I… want to stay with them…” He looked at Grillby and mouthed a ‘I’m sorry’ to him. “If you want Grillby, you can go home and just put the blame on me, and you tried to stop me but… you know… I beat you and took you with me?”

 

Hearth could tell Grillby just wanted out, so many times the other tried to get out of this mess, only going along because Hearth did. Now Hearth was feeling bad about it, letting Grillby be forced into what  _ he  _ wanted, not what Grillby wanted. “You don’t have to force yourself to follow me, sorry for doing that before…”

  
  


Grillby turned to Hearth, genuinely surprised. Genuinely unprepared. Was that really the kind of image Grillby’s given him the entire time? That he was forcing himself to follow him?   
  
“Hearth, what do I have waiting for me at home?” He asked the elemental, though obviously not expecting an answer. “A tavern that barely pays me, parents that are probably glad I disappeared. And you. Except you wouldn’t be there anymore.”

 

“I’m not… disagreeing with you because I want to go. I am, because you’re too heroic for your own good, because Sans is a fool, and Papyrus is a naive child. And you’re all reckless. I don’t want to go home, I want  _ you _ to be safe.”

 

He took a deep breath, letting it out in a low sigh, taking a small break. 

  
  


Hearth looked at the ground, face scrunched up in slight frustration. “But… what about what feels right to  _ us _ , or our  _ happiness _ . I’m  _ happy  _ being with them, helping people, and I feel like Papyrus feels the same. Yeah we might all have faults, but we choose what we do because we have reasons and wants. I don’t think they should be overlooked just because we care.”

  
  


“Of course it shouldn’t be ignored,” Grillby told him with a small smile. “Why do you think I’m here on a ship belonging to two pirates we just rescued. But  _ someone’s _ got to at least  _ try _ to remind you of what the risks are, right?”

 

“well this is suddenly feeling like a very personal thing between them, huh,” Sans muttered towards his brother awkwardly, getting an angry, “SHUSH,” back from Papyrus.

  
  


“Fuck the risks! No risk is to big from doing what you want, if you don’t, we might regret it!” Hearth cheered, punching his fist in the air. “I say we stay!” Looking at Papyrus for support.

  
  


“ME TOO!!!” Papyrus agreed without hesitation, Sans raising a hand into the air as well, adding a low, “me three.”

 

“I really can’t change your mind, can I?” Grillby said, though he didn’t sound upset about it really. “I’m in, too.”

 

“WHAT ABOUT YOU, DAD???” Papyrus asked, looking over to Gaster, whom had been quiet the whole time. He barely looked like he’d been listening, lost in his own world.

 

“I’m already a traitor,” he uttered out almost lifelessly. “Really, what does it matter anymore.”   
  
“THAT’S THE SPIRIT!!!” Papyrus cheered for him. “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO REGRET IT, DAD!”

  
  


“So, we’re staying! We should tell Meister then, he has been waiting awhile!” Hearth cheered, looking extremely happy, bouncing up from his seat and marching to the door. “Anything else before I go tell him?” He asked, looking back to the rest of the group.

  
  


“i demand a badass uniform,” Sans told him, a hand tapping over his cracked eye socket. “with an eyepatch to cover this bad boy. only then i can truly awaken the real pirate in me.”

  
  


“Okay so nothing, alright I’ll be right back.” Hearth called, walking up the stairs to leave the bottom floor.

  
  


“psh, rude,” Sans scoffed, not once having gotten off the floor. Grillby gave him a curious glance.

  
“Sans… You know this is serious… right?” He asked the skeleton slightly skeptical. Yet not judgemental. Sans gave him a shrug.

 

“sure,” he muttered in reply. “but why act serious when ‘s easier not to?”   
  
And, well. Grillby figured he somewhere had a point there.

 

-

 

Meister had been overjoyed at the answer, ushering them into more comfortable clothing, mostly because they looked much richer than everyone else, and Hearth was still wearing his purple coat.

 

Now with pirate clothes, Meister mentioned how if they want to look better, they will have to find things themselves, like trophies, after hearing Sans wanted something cooler. That’s how Captain Meister looked so cool, like a true successful Captain.

 

“So, you will all be apart of the Reaper brother’s crew, you are now their crew and they are your captains!” Captain Meister cheered, both Death and Reaper looking at him in surprise. 

 

“no one told us dis…” Death said.

 

“WHEN HAVE WE AGREED TO THIS!?” Reaper yelled

 

“You will see me and my crew occasionally, meet up, regroup. We have to keep taps who we are enemies with of course.” Meister chirped, ignoring the Reaper brothers entirely.

  
  


“Thank you, captain,” Grillby said, not sure how to pay his respect to a pirates captain, so he gave him an almost-bow nod. He personally didn’t mind their new attire, and Sans, while finding it boring, also found it a lot more comfortable than the fancy coat his dad had made him wear.

 

Only Gaster really seemed uncomfortable in the clothes still, not used to wearing something that wouldn’t show off his no-longer rank, wearing something that wouldn’t represent his no-longer authority.

  
Papyrus, while not minding the clothes though, wasn’t quite satisfied either. He was looking at Reaper and Death, slightly concerned.

 

“DO YOU NOT WANT TO HAVE US?” He asked them, the question genuine, yet slightly worried. He didn’t want to be a burden on them.

  
  


“NO, WE WILL TAKE YOU, BUT IT IRKS ME HOW WE WEREN’T  _ TOLD _ !” Reaper said the last part harshly, looking at Meister accusingly, the captain in question whistling and looking as jolly as ever.

 

“i am a captain now…” Death whispered in amazement, smile growing by each second. “i can tell o’ders wha ta do!”

 

“OH BOY…” Reaper sighed, already preparing to lose their new crew.

  
  


Papyrus was beaming at the two pirates. No, at his two captains, excitement filling him as soon as he saw Death’s.

 

“WE’RE PIRATES NOW!!!” He chirped happily to no one in particularly, though his enthusiasm did catch onto Sans.

 

“yep,” Sans agreed, giving Papyrus a giddy grin. “we’re pirates now!”

 

Grillby was watching them for a few moments, his own small smile growing. Until he turned to glance over to Reaper and Death. “So, uhm. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but… we’re all gonna need guidance. We’ll do our best to assist you once we can, but right now I think the only ones that could be useful would be Hearth and maybe Papyrus…” He knew he didn’t know the first thing about any of this. He’s helped out on the ship sometimes, but… that was really it. That was his entire experience with it.

 

And Sans and Gaster didn’t exactly seem like the sailing type either, Gaster having usually been the one to stick with the captain discussing unrelated or barely related things, and Sans usually not being useful at all.

 

...They were going to be an exhausting lot, weren’t they.

  
  


“kay, first t’ings first, ‘earth, da ya know ‘ow ta navigate a ship?” Death asked, the Flame in question nodding in confirmation. “good, den ya steer da ship when me an’ my bro ‘ren’. o’derwise ya ‘andle ‘nchor, sail, and managin’. Teach da o’ders wha ya know ‘bout it.”

 

“Aye aye Captain!” Hearth chirped, looking very pleased with himself. 

 

“‘o knows ‘ow ta cook?” Death called.

  
  


There was a small moment where no one really seemed to volunteer. Until Grillby raised his hand hesitantly. “I’m no chef, but… used to work at a tavern. Picked up a thing or two…”

 

He wasn’t sure how great his cooking would actually be, but so far no one had  _ complained _ about it at least…

  
  


“hurray, nice. ya da chef of da group, o’der dan makin’ food ya ‘elp ‘earth.” Death concluded. He looked  _ very  _ pleased there was someone on the crew that knew how to cook even a little bit. It was better than just eating things straight up or putting them over a flame until they could.

 

“IF WE NEED SOMETHING TO BE MADE, THEN WE WILL GO TO YOU GASTER.” Reaper mentioned, looking at the poor skeleton still in his grief stages. 

 

“sans an’ pap can ‘ust be ‘elpers fer now, til we figure it out.” Death muttered to his brother, who nodded.

 

“You boys all better be able to clean!!!” A big fat, round women yelled, walking over to them. She looked fierce, like the mother you don’t want to talk back too. “I hope you all aren’t going to leave with this ship looking like  _ this _ ?!?”

 

Death groaned, already moving behind Papyrus for safety.

 

“Oh hello there Bertha!” Captain Meister called, before turning to the new crew. “This is Bertha, our maid of our crew.”

  
  


“uh-oh…” Was all Sans muttered as he quickly joined Death to hide behind his brother, though Papyrus seemed unperturbed. 

 

“HELLO BERTHA!!!” He chirped happily. “NICE TO MEET YOU!”

  
  


“Hello little boy, I hope you aren’t trying to get out of this by being nice! You are apart of the crew now, that means you have to do the labor of keeping it clean!” Bertha told Papyrus, standing tall.

 

“That goes for you two as well!” She looked at Reaper and Death, the shorter groaning in misery. “None of that shit, you two know the drill, give me your clothes! Go change! Shoo!” She moved her hands like she can swat them away like flies, forcing Death and Reaper to actually move along and go under the deck to change.

 

“Bertha my dear, I have just fitted these gentlemen with new clothing, so I don’t think they would need to change.” Meister piped in, as cheerful as ever. His cheerfulness is a front, it’s evil, pure evil.

 

Bertha huffed, nodding, “But remember, next time you will, I won’t let you all go running around without cleaning those drags at least  _ once,  _ you got that?” She looked over the very small crew, giving them the stink eye.

 

Hearth nodded quickly, putting his hands up in surrender. “Yes, ma’am.”

  
  


“YES, MA’AM!!!” Papyrus chimed in more enthusiastically, saluting in front of the woman.

 

Though he also seemed to be the only one as enthusiastic about this, as Sans subtly made his way to Grillby, whispering a quiet, “i think  _ she’s _ the real captain ‘ere.”

 

That got him a small chuckle, the flame giving Sans a gentle shove. “Shut up,” he whispered back, though he was clearly still trying not to laugh anymore. “Don’t get us in trouble.”

 

“HOW CAN WE ASSIST???” Papyrus asked, oblivious of the other two.

  
  


“Alright, two of you are going to being cleaning the deck, grab a bucket and pail and start scrubbing, two of you are going under the deck and clean and tidy up the mess. I vote the two flames on that. And one of you will clean the crow’s nest and work yourself down the pole, cleaning the structure of the sail, I’ll have one of the brothers help whoever one of you are doing  _ that _ . Got all that?” Bertha was a very big women, she wasn’t tall per say, with her stubby legs and many rolls of body fat, but she made up for it with how big she actually is. Towering over them and threatening to crush them with her weight.

  
  


“ROGER!!!” Papyrus replied immediately.

  
“...Got it,” Grillby replied less enthusiastically and more intimidated, while Sans just kept quiet in general, hiding behind Grillby.

 

Gaster, through all of this, had stayed quiet, which was starting to concern Sans and Papyrus both. Though he wasn’t completely unresponsive and one of the first ones to actually grab a bucket and start cleaning around the deck once they got to the reaper brother’s ship.

 

The flames decided they might as well go under the deck to tidy up, not exactly too keen on getting close to all of that water, so Sans and Papyrus were left to either take on the deck with Gaster or go up to the crow’s nest.

 

“CROW’S NEST!”   
  


“cr-  _ dammit! _ ” Sans snapped. “d’aww, pappy, do you not wanna help our dad?”   
  
“THAT’S NOT THE POINT HERE!” Papyrus retorted, not falling to the guilt tripping in the least. “I’M TALLER AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IF YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO WORK YOURSELF DOWN THE POLE YOU WILL FALL AND HURT YOURSELF.”

 

“will not!”   
  
“WILL SO!”

  
  


“wha with all da fightin’, can’ ‘ear anyt’in’ else.” Death asked, walking out the bottom floor, passing the flames with his brother in tow. They both wore plain white shirts, tattered and thin, their white shorts the same. Both sporting white cloths on their faces, Reaper using his to cover his mouth, and Death as a blindfold, covering his eye sockets.

 

Reaper had both their clothes in a pile, handing it over to Bertha, who nodded and walked back to the other ship to wash them.

 

“were we given positions?” Death asked, turning his head around where he could hear movement, even when he couldn’t see a thing now.

  
  


It was odd seeing Death and Reaper out of their usually clothes, though even more so with the cloth’s covering them. It made sense, really, after what they’d heard, but… that didn’t exactly make it better.

 

Could Death see at all through that?

 

“more or less…” Sans muttered out eventually, though.

 

“ONE OF YOU IS SUPPOSED TO GO UP TO THE CROW’S NEST WITH ME-”

 

“‘ey,  _ that _ wasn’ decided yet!”   
  
“WHILE SANS STAYS HERE TO CLEAN THE DECK.” Papyrus said, ignoring his brother completely.

  
  


Reaper pointed at himself, then at Papyrus, before pointing at the crow’s nest. He then laid his hand on Death’s side and working his fingers into many symbols and shapes, Death hummed in response. “guess, ‘ll do da outer ship, don’ make paps fall.” He warned, already turning around to go where Bertha usually leaves the cleaning supplies, only for Reaper to snap his fingers.

 

It gained Death’s attention, making the head turn to focus on the noises, Reaper took that moment to run past his brother, grabbing the scraper and handing it over to Death, pressing it to his hand. “t’anks.” Death muttered, going to the ship’s edge and jumping off.

 

Reaper turned to Papyrus and pointed at the sails, then clapping his hands twice, one can almost hear him say ‘CHOP CHOP!’ with the motion alone. He grabbed the necessary supplies to clean and started to climb the ladder up to the crow’s nest.

  
  


Papyrus followed Reaper up the crows nest quickly, slightly perturbed over the fact he wasn’t talking at all, but… he decided not to bring it up. He peeked down once on their way up, spotting Sans uselessly standing at the edge of the ship, peeking down.

  
“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO CLEAN, BROTHER!!!” Papyrus called down to him, gaining Sans attention, the startled skeleton looking up at him with a concerned look, pointing off the ship.

 

Papyrus could hear a muffled, “‘s ‘e ok?”   
  
“MORE OKAY THAN YOU’RE GOING TO BE IF BERTHA FINDS OUT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN CLEANING!!!” Papyrus replied to that, wondering how much actually reached the other skeleton. Though it seemed to be enough, because Sans now looked panicked more than concerned and quickly started to look for a pail and help Gaster clean.

  
  


Death was indeed fine, using the metal handles around the ship to move around. Since the skeleton cannot currently see at the moment, he is opted to feel around for any bumps around the ship, scraping it off with the metal scrapper. 

 

Reaper didn’t look concerned, he climbed up the sail until he was at the very top. There was rope sitting there, which he grabbed and tied one end to the pole, waiting for Papyrus to join him in the crow’s nest before tying the other end to Papyrus’ waist. Reaper pointed at the sail, then made one of his hands go flat in the air, while the other was over it, with two fingers as legs, before making the top hand fall off the other. Demonstrating Papyrus falling off, then pointing at the rope.

  
  


“AH! IT’S FOR SAFETY!” Papyrus replied as he understood as he tugged on the rope a little to check if it felt safe, before giving Reaper a nod, letting him know he was ready to go.


	18. maybe they should look into ultra sounds for death

Sans let out an exhausted sigh as he got up for a small break. He had his bucket and rag standing to the wall of the ship as Sans glanced over their work. They weren’t quite finished yet, though about halfway there, and while Sans didn’t exactly feel accomplished, he definitely couldn’t wait being done with all this cleaning shit.

 

Papyrus seemed to be having a blast up there on the sail, chatting occasionally with Reaper. Lucky bastard. The most chat Sans got out of this so far was him trying to tell Gaster to be less of a sad blob and start adjusting to their new lives instead.

  
  


Death had been jogging down the deck, having loosen his grip on the scrapper and lost it to the sea. Oh Bertha isn’t going to be happy…

 

He will have to get another one…

 

But he couldn’t see, and relies on hearing way more now, but Sans was quiet, quiet and in the middle of the path. Now Death wasn’t always a clutz, but he had new people around, and he wasn’t used to that, and of course they wouldn’t know to make noise or stay out of the way when Death was blindfolded. So it was to no surprise when he ran into something that  _ shouldn’t  _ be there.

 

“oof!” Death let out, falling on top of Sans, his instincts telling him to attack, but his mind is reminding him there were now more allies on his ship now besides his brother.

  
  


Sans let out a startled yelp when he suddenly got pushed on the ground, landing roughly on his side.

 

“ow, ow, ow, what the heck!” He complained mostly annoyed than anything else. Though he rolled on his back now, his eyes widening surprised when he spotted the blindfolded Reaper brothers hovering on top of him. “o-oh…”

  
  


“damn, why ya so quiet?” Death grumbled, moving one hand to feel around, the hand patting Sans’ face as the pirate said. “which one ‘re ya? uhhh, sans? sans ya gotta make noise so i know yer d’ere or stay out da way when ‘m like dis!” Death had his other hand supporting himself over Sans, right next to the other’s head, with his legs on either side of the other skeleton, back arched slightly as Death looked at the face he felt out.

  
  


Sans didn’t stop the hand from feeling over his face, though he felt his own face heating up, flustered.

 

“u-uhm… sorry,” he muttered out awkwardly, not sure how he should feel about the situation. Not sure why Death was still on him, rather than just getting up after he had landed. 

  
  


Death hummed, lifting his upper body up until he was sitting on Sans' legs, not at all looking fazed or seem to see anything wrong with this. "since i got ya 'ere, need yer 'elp ta find a new scrapper, lost mine ta da mermaids." Death's head was focused on Sans' face, even if he can't see, he remembered where Sans is. His hands moved to his side, no longer touching Sans' heating up face, thankfully Death didn't want to bother asking if Sans was coming down with something, instead filing it off for later.

  
  


Sans slowly got up himself, ignoring the way he still felt the heat in his face.

 

"alright... uh. where'd i find one?" Though they did spend some days here before, Sans didn't know his way around the ship quite yet. There must be some kind of storage or supply room or something for those kinda things, right?

  
  


Death pointed at the other ship, he can hear Meister's crew walking and banging around over the sea's waves. "secon' floor in da o'der ship, in a corner. 'll go with ya." He got up from the skeleton, taking a few steps back to give the other some room. Yet it was weird that someone currently blind looked so relaxed, yet still so hyper aware. "uhh..." But Death seemed to falter at a moments notice, driving the previous statement out into the sea. 

 

"can ya snap yer fingers every once in a while when we go? gets kinda noisy over d'ere ta follow someone." He seemed to close in on himself a little, like he was embarrassed to ask. But he never really had to  _ ask  _ before, everyone he knew already did that for him when he was around the loud ship, asking for it just seemed weird now.

  
  


"uh, sure," Sans muttered a bit surprised at the request, though it did make sense. And now that he thought of it, he did remember Reaper doing the same thing for him earlier. 

 

"yea, sure!" He said again, more sure of himself now. He made his way over to the other ship, the two ships connected by a plank. He still felt kind of nervous on the ship, even if he knew he was part of the crew now. Didn't exactly make him feel safe just yet. 

 

But he tried to ignore it, snapping his fingers every once in a while and checking if Death was still there, while he made his way through the other ship. Just look like you know what you're doing, Sans, then people won't question it.

  
  


Death already knew the layout of both ships, the only problem is the constantly changing people and things they decided to leave on the floor on Meister's ship. Usually Death can manage navigating around the other ship, with the help of the crew that knows to make noise around him or avoid him. but it isn't so easy relying on just hearing alone, with the waves drowning a lot, so many people from all sides stomping and talking loudly, smashing and banging about. It was hard following someone who was so quiet, so the snapping helped a lot. But Death ended up using his own memory on guiding himself to where he needed to go, and the snapping is just to know where Sans is.

 

Thankfully they moved around the ship with no incident, going below deck and dodging scattered clothing and going over chests or beds.

 

Indeed there was a corner where there were cleaning supplies thrown to carelessly, Death stood close to Sans, annoyed Sans just doesn't need to breath, so he couldn't hear him through that either. "da ya see it?"

  
  


"scraper, right?" Sans asked as he looked through the cleaning supplies briefly. "yea, got one. let's get outta here before bertha makes us tidy up this place as well." Really, with her as a threat, a mess like this only made Sans anxious.

 

He grabbed Death by the wrist quickly, tugging him with him out of the bunker they'd been in, before letting out a small sigh, letting go of Death again.

 

"uh. sorry bout that."

  
  


"sorry fer wha?" Death asked, already starting to walk back to his own ship.

  
  


Ah right. "nothin'." Sans replied, the word muttered, feeling more awkward than he probably should. 

 

It was his turn now to follow Death, though he didn't know how he felt about the snapping thing now, so Sans simply did it every once in a while until Death would tell him he could or should stop.

 

He was glad to be back on the reaper brothers ship once they were, feeling a lot more comfortable without as many people running around.

  
  


"t'anks." Death turned to face at the other skeleton, holding his hand out for the scraper. "yer almost done with da deck?" He couldn't really see, so him asking wasn't really something others do to keep a conversation going or to start one.

  
  


"halfway," Sans told him as he handed Death the scraper, before he saw Gaster resting crouched against a wall and Sans realized he had done a bit more when Sans left.

 

"uh, like two third. almost done, yea." He replied, playing with the thought of if he just should let Gaster do the rest and pretend he'd be helping. But... no. That would be unfair. And he had already let his dad do most of the work.

  
  


Death hummed in confirmation, walking over to the side of the ship he left off at, "den get to it, bert'a ain' gonna be happy if yer slackin'." He warned, before jumping off the wooden railing and down, grabbing onto the metal handles and started to feel for anything with one hand, another having a hold of the handle, while the scraper was in his mouth.

  
  


Sans peeked over the railing to spot Death, watching him both with odd curiosity and wonder. Sans didn't think he could do that, let alone blindfolded... But Papyrus had been right when he said Death was fine, the pirate seemed to have no problem finding his way around.

 

Sans didn't want to find out how right Papyrus was about the Bertha part, and Death warned him too which could only be a bad sign. So he quickly picked back up his bucket and rag and got to cleaning up the rest of the ship.

 

-

 

The sail and deck were the first things to be finished cleaning, the outside now as clean as it was ever going to get. Hearth and Grillby still had a bit to go, they might have a smaller space to clean, yet they still had to organize the mess and clean the floors and walls. Death too, was still at work, since his vision is blocked and he is doing the whole outer ship alone, it is taking him longer than the others as well.

 

Bertha was still pleased with the sight, marveling at the deck and sails with approval. "Nice work you four, you have done a splendid job! See, isn't it better to be on a ship so clean and beautiful?" She spread her arms to the surrounding around her, the now mostly clean ship.

 

Reaper nodded mindlessly, already not interested in hearing this again, instead try and see how far his brother is doing, and maybe even help.

  
  


"YOU DID GREAT SANS!" Papyrus told his brother proudly once they had gotten off the sails. He hadn't expected his brother to work that hard, but the threat of Bertha seemed to have spurned him on. And Papyrus could see past the moment Sans left the ship with Death, deciding he had probably helped him with something.

 

"eh, pops did most of it," Sans replied with a shrug, giving Gaster a pat on the back.

 

"YOU DID GREAT, TOO, FATHER!!!" Papyrus told Gaster, the former inventor giving him a small smile.

 

"Thank you, Pappy. You did very well as well. Was it scary up there?"

 

Papyrus shook his head no, before beginning to ramble about how it was and what they did. Sans was listening for the most part, glad his brother has had a good time, until his eyes caught sight of the two elementals finally emerging from the belly of the ship.

 

"mind if i'll leave ya two 'lone?"

 

"YOU'LL BE MISSING THE BEST PART, BUT GO AHEAD, BROTHER!!!" Papyrus told him. "I'LL TELL YOU THE REST LATER!" Sans gave him a nod, before rushing up to the two elementals, quickly falling in step with them.

 

"so 'ow've you two been? took pretty long." 

 

"Did we?" Grillby asked, genuinely surprised. "It was okay. Quite a mess sometimes, but easy to get into."

 

"oof, we've got a cleaner."

  
  


"Well he did a lot of cleaning at the tavern..." Hearth rambled, thinking back to the days before they became pirates. "It really wasn't that bad to be honest, kinda relaxing actually!" 

 

They talked while they did their own thing, without the sea all around them to remind them they were surrounded by liquid death all around. There was also a calm feeling of nostalgia in being in a closed of wooden area, like the tavern.

  
  


“eh. y’all’re weird,” Sans uttered out. He pointed his thumb to the railing of the ship, though, eying Hearth. “y’ should check out death, though, ‘e’s like a spider. on the outside the ship. but keep y’re pants on, please.” 

 

Grillby chuckled at the last comment, causing Sans to laugh at it as well. 

  
  


Hearth didn’t care, he just zoomed past the small skeleton and to the edge of the railing, looking for Death. He found him a little more to his right, watching him move around the edge of the ship like some sort of spider. Damn, Sans was right.

 

Reaper was under him, cleaning the ship closer to the water while Death did the higher parts. Hearth noticed Reaper was using on of his mini scythes, scraping off anything that didn’t belong.

 

“Damn.” Hearth whispered, this was kind of cool to watch.

 

But something caught his attention with Death’s movements…

 

“Can Death see?”

  
  


“ah, nope,” Sans replied as him and Grillby followed Hearth to the railing. “blindfolded. but ‘e seems to be getting ‘round fine ‘s long as there’s noise.”

 

“So he really doesn’t like showing his eyes…” Grillby muttered to himself, remembering captain Meister’s words. They must’ve lived like this for a long time for Death to be able to get along so well.

  
  


They watched Reaper snap his fingers, and bang on the ship’s shell, but both of those has some sort of rhythm to it, like he was doing each one on purpose and with… purpose. 

 

“i don’ know bro, maybe we can ask ‘er later?” Death called to his brother.

 

Hearth’s brows shot up, “Reaper isn’t talking, look how he just does some snaps and banging and Death already knows what he says! What even? How long does it take to  _ do  _ that!?” Hearth rasped out, shocked. “Fuck, they did hand motions before too! Shit Grillby, are you seeing this?” 

 

Hearth remembered that one time they saw Death press his hand to Reaper’s side, doing some sort of hand motions to tell Reaper to block the coconut from hitting Papyrus. Which was still crazy just looking back at it  _ now. _

  
  


“I’m… seeing this,” Grillby replied, muttering, though his eyes were highly focused on the two skeletons, just as impressed. It almost looked like Death could read his mind, or like it was some kind of mixture of sign language and morse code, though nothing specific Grillby actually recognized. “They must’ve been practicing this since they were children…” He wondered if those signs, knocks and snaps were something they’d come up with themselves or something they were taught at one point in their life.

 

Sans was the only one who was not participating, mostly as he had no idea what they were actually talking about. He was halfway pulling himself up the railing just to see over it, but still couldn’t see enough to spot Death and Reaper. So he was just kind of there, awkwardly taking their word for it as he heard the slightly distant noises of the two Reaper brothers.

  
  


Hearth noticed this, and quickly pulled the skeleton halfway on the railing, so Sans was laying his stomach on the railing. Hearth’s hand on the back of his shirt to keep him from going forward and falling. “You see how Reaper is doing some snaps and banging and then Death just replies, like they are having a conversation?” He asked, mostly saying all this to get the smaller up to speed.

  
  


Sans felt a little awkward lying on his stomach over the railing, a little anxious he might fall off any moment. Though he was glancing over to the pirate brothers now, able to finally see them better. 

 

“huh…” Sans muttered surprised. “y’re right.” It was really not surprising how those two could be such successful pirates… Their communication was beyond flawless, and the way they both got along on those walls flawlessly. They really would be incredibly dangerous in any battle, and the thought both impressed Sans all the more, as well as that it made him shiver.

  
  


Reaper had snapped a few times, making Death move his head to be facing up. “ey! wha ya starin’ at?”

 

Hearth jumped in surprise, his hold on Sans loosening enough that the skeleton went forward. 

  
  


Grillby let out a startled gasp, only reaching out to catch Sans a second too late-

 

“ _ Fuck, _ ” he cursed under his breath, only able to bend over the railing to look down, as he knew he wouldn’t be able to get Sans out of the water if he fell in there.

  
  


Reaper banged his hands on the wood, ready to go and catch Sans, but didn’t even have to bother. Death heard the yelp, the gasp, and the sound of clothes and bones rubbing against wood. Quickly putting the scraper in his mouth, he reached out and grabbed onto Sans’ arm, Reaper coming up to be next to Sans’ body.

 

“Shit, shit! I’m so sorry!!” Hearth called out, his voice stressed and oh so guilty. 

  
  


Sans was breathing quickly, both of his hands now clinging to Death’s arm. It wasn’t like he could’ve gotten too hurt falling off the boat and into the ocean, and someone would’ve probably gotten him either way, but the fall still scared the living hell out of him.

 

“ _ hearth, what the fuck!? _ ” He whined out, his voice shrill and scared, clinging to Death like his life depended on it.

  
  


Death pulled him closer while Hearth called down from above. “I’m  _ so so sorry!! _ ” He almost begged, looking like he just accidently kicked a kitten.

 

The pirate pulled Sans between himself and the ship, forcing Sans to move his arms and legs around to hug Death, back to the ship. “yer gonna be trouble, i can tell.” Death told Sans, not really amused by the situation.

  
  


“ _ what did i do? _ ” Sans whined out, his face close to Death’s face as he was pouting.

  
  


“like da o’ders say… yer a fool.” Death replied easily, starting to climb up the ship, making Sans latch onto him as he went up.

  
  


“ain’t my fault ‘earth threw me off the ship!” Sans complained when they got back on the ship, Grillby letting out a relieved sigh once he saw Sans in safety again.

 

“He’s kind of right about that,” Grillby muttered out, giving Hearth a small side glare. “But you’re also a fool, Sans.”

 

“wouldn’ throw m’self off a ship, though,” he muttered, his words getting more and more mumbled as he was still pouting, clinging to Death even after they were on the ship again.

  
  


Reaper got up and over the railing after his brother and Sans were safely on the ship, looking more annoyed than anything. He pressed his hand to Death’s side and moved his hands.

 

‘THEY ARE  _ ALL _ GOING TO BE TROUBLE.’

 

“i couldn’ ‘gree with ya more bro.” Death sighed, leaning onto the railing while ignoring the clinging skeleton on him and frowning at them all, hearing Hearth throw a thousand apologies to Sans. Death sighed, exhausted.

  
  


“Thank you, for saving him,” Grillby sighed out as well, giving Death a genuine smile he couldn’t see anyways, before picking Sans off of him. Only for the skeleton to start struggling in his hold, until he placed him down on the floor again.

 

“th’nk you, death,” Sans said as well, for a moment standing by himself, before going back to Grillby and clinging to him a little. Having just fallen down the railing still made him feel slightly dizzy and unsafe. “an’ fuck you hearth. ain’t no one gonna f’rgive you ‘till you make it up to me. for almost killin’ me.”

 

“You wouldn’t have died…” Grillby argued, but decided to stay quiet otherwise. He could tell Sans just wanted to get something out of this.

  
  


Death had shrugged off the thanks and jumped back down the railing, Reaper following right after him.

  
“I’m  _ soorrryyyyyyyy!!!!!”  _ Hearth screamed in agony.


	19. casually picking up pirates

It was time for a break, Death had been working for awhile now, Reaper had said he would keep going while Death got himself a snack. So the pirate climbed up once again, got over the railing, and walked down the deck, keeping close tabs not to run into Sans again.

 

He made it to the door that led to the bottom floor, opening it and walking down the steps calmly, those steps have been carved into his skull. When Death reached the bottom he only took a few steps before tripping over a bag, landing right into Hearth’s arms.

 

“oof!”

 

Why do they have to move things next to the steps!?!?

 

Hearth didn’t say anything right away, only picked up the skeleton causally and held him as he went about his cleaning. Death sitting on Hearth’s lower arm, Hearth’s hand thankfully not touching his femurs or his pelvis.

 

“Do you know where you left the brush Grillby?” Hearth asked, looking over to his friend almost on the other side of the heap of garbage they found.

 

“uuhhh…” Death said, unsure what to really do. They weren’t enemies anymore, so hurting them wasn’t beneficial to him anymore. But he had no other idea how to handle this, being picked up like this, not even a explanation and worse, blind. He wishes he could see so he could get a better read on which flame this was and  _ why  _ they decided to just pick him up just like that.

  
  


“Yes, it’s over the-” Grillby froze as he turned around, originally only having wanted to point to the brush for his friend. Only to notice said friend having acquired a very unusual pet.

 

“Hearth.” He said, his voice low and wary, almost like he was very exhausted with the other elemental’s behavior. “ _ Why  _ the skeleton?”

  
  


“He fell into my arms~” Hearth cooed.

 

“i jus’ wan’ed a snack…” Death mumbled, “‘ow da fuck did dis ‘appen…?”

 

“Now where is the brush?” Hearth asked, smiling wide at Grillby, like he did nothing wrong. 

  
  


Grillby pointed towards the brush absently, though kept his eyes on the small skeleton. 

 

“Hey captain. That guy bothering you?” He asked, almost like he was expecting the worst from Hearth, though mostly only teasing. Maybe nudging to check in whether Death was still okay with this.

  
  


“i wan’ food, but ya idiots moved everyt’ing, i don’ know where’ shit.” Death growled half heartedly. “i ‘ate ya both.”

 

“Awww, don’t hate us!” Hearth cooed, squeezing Death into a hug, which the pirate frowned at.

 

“i will.” He said, “fer’ever.”

  
  


“Want me to feed you?” Grillby asked, though he wasn’t actually waiting for a response. He looked through the barrels of food they found earlier to get an apple, before heading back to Hearth and his new skeletal parrot.

 

He tapped Death on the shoulder gently to get his attention, before handing the apple into his hands, making sure Death was holding onto it and wouldn’t drop it once Grillby let go.

 

“Here you go,” he hummed.

  
  


“yer cap’ten is pleased~” 

 

-

 

By the time Reaper and Death were done, Bertha had come back with their clothes nice and clean, the brothers already scrambling below the deck to get changed.

 

“Alright everyone!” Meister called out to the Reaper brother’s crew, “After today, we will part ways for now. I hope you all have fun travels~” Waving at them all, his own crew getting ready to detach the planks connecting the two ships.

  
  


“BYE, CAPTAIN MEISTER!!!” Papyrus called over to the other ship, waving enthusiastically. Sans and Gaster were close to him, Gaster also waving a little, though for the most part just staying with his sons. They were all a little nervous about departing. They weren’t sure what to expect, what it was going to be like.

 

If they’d regret their decision after all…

 

But Papyrus was absolutely positive, Grillby was just glad his friend was happy, and Sans didn’t seem to have cared about either way.

  
  


The ships only truly started to depart once Death and Reaper came back up, both wearing their usual clothing. Reaper moved the wheel so they would start to turn away, Death, in the crow’s nest giving a small wave.

 

The other ship started to go another way, until you couldn’t see it any longer.

 

“ALL RIGHT EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!” Reaper called from his spot, looking over his new crew. “ME AND DEATH HAVE BEEN PLANNING TO GO FIND TREASURE AT DART MOUNT, WE WILL BE THERE IN THREE DAYS TIME.” He waved around a old rolled up paper, most likely a treasure map.

  
  


“Treasure?” Hearth asked, looking at Grillby surprised. “I didn’t know the Reaper brother’s liked to go out finding treasure.”

 

“OH!!! I’VE HEARD ABOUT THE DART MOUNT TREASURE!!!” Papyrus chimed in excitedly. “I’VE HEARD NO ONE EVER MANAGED TO FIND IT AND COME OUT ALIVE! DO YOU THINK WE COULD???”

 

“doesn’ hurt to try, right?”   
  
“YOU’LL DIE, BUT NO, I SUPPOSE NOT!”

 

“see. lil’ bit a death never hurt no one,” Sans said with a shrug and a small chuckle. 

  
  


“‘m not sharin’ any part of me with ya, i will hurt  _ everyone _ !!” Death called from the crow’s nest, looking more offended that Sans would even suggest it.

  
  


Grillby seemed… less convinced by Sans’ comment.

 

“Do you have a plan, captain?”

  
  


“WE CAN’T REALLY FORM A PLAN OTHER THAN GO THERE IF WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE PLACE FIRST. BUT I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU ALL TAKE WEAPONS THE MEISTER HAS GRACIOUSLY LEFT FOR YOU, MIGHT COME IN HANDY LATER.” Reaper pointed to a barrel close to the door that led under the deck, there was no lid, due to the weapons being long and poking out.

 

Hearth walked over to the barrel, looking inside. “Oh!” He pulled out a gun that looked a lot like the ones he used to have when he worked under king Asgore. “Well if it’s for us…” He said, looking more pleased with the results.

  
  


Gaster, too, pulled out a gun, a musket looking quite similar to Hearth’s. He wasn’t sure how he felt about being the one to have to carry a weapon now, rather than being protected by the ones that do, but… He  _ had _ used a musket before. He wouldn’t be completely helpless.

 

Grillby found himself a cutlass. He had less experience than Hearth and Gaster would have, though it felt the most right in his hands. He’d have to learn his way around with it, though was oddly excited about doing so.

 

Papyrus was digging through the barrel excitedly, trying to find what would catch his interest most. He surfaced with a loud, “A-HA!!!” Holding a chain in one hand, both ending in dagger-like blades. It reminded him of the scythes the reaper brothers sported. Not quite  _ as _ cool, but still. They looked pretty nice!

 

Sans was the last one to get his take in the barrel, and he wasn’t exactly excited about it. He didn’t have any experiences with fighting, except maybe the one or two times he got into a quarrel with some hooligans on the street. Or maybe the one or two times someone else got into a quarrel with the hooligan on the street being Sans. But usually it ended in Sans being either helped or finding a way out of the situation.

 

But he looked into the barrel either way, basically grabbing the first thing he found - which was some kind of flintlock pistol. He pocketed it quickly, like he didn’t actually want to have to think about it and carrying a gun, though he knew he’d have to ask someone to figure it out sooner or later.

  
  


Death went down the sail’s pillar, moving towards his brother and nudging his arm. “maybe train dem, d’ey’d be pre’dy useless now.” He advice, Reaper nodding and taking it into consideration. 

 

“PERHAPS WE SHOULD, MAYBE HEARTH CAN STEER WHILE WE BOTH TRAIN DIFFERENT CREW MATES.”

 

“if da ship even  _ needs  _ steerin’, we’re goin’ in a straigh’ line d’ere.” Death added.

 

“YOU NEVER KNOW.” Reaper easily shot back. Ending their conversation when he called out to the others. “I WANT TO TEACH YOU ALL HOW TO HANDLE SOMEONE WITH A DAGGER, DISARM THEM. I ALSO WANT TO TRAIN THE ONES WHO DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE THEIR WEAPONS.”

 

He looked at the softest looking ones on the ship, Papyrus and Sans mostly, the freshest looking ones. 

  
  


“ey, why ya lookin’ at me? ‘m a bad ass with… this thing.”   
  
“CONFIDENCE IS HALF THE EFFORT!!!” Papyrus told his brother as he clapped him on the back, avoiding to say everyone knew he didn’t know shit.

 

“I wouldn’t mind a training session,” Grillby agreed, though, and even Gaster gave him a nod. He could use a little help and warmup to get used to this again.

  
  


“ALRIGHT, WHO WANTS TO GO FIRST!?” Reaper cheered, Hearth sitting on the few steps that led up to the captain’s wheel, he already knew about defending himself, how to disarm and protect. He doesn’t need to train.

  
  


“OH! OH!!! ME!” Papyrus said excitedly, raising his hand to get the attention. “PLEASE???”

  
  


“BROTHER, YOU HANDLE BLADES SMOOTHLY, GO TEACH HIM.” Reaper nudged, Death only humming as he jumped down the little level the captain’s wheel has over the main deck. 

 

“grillby, yer next after em, keep watch.” Death called to the flame, already leading Papyrus to the middle of the deck, needing as much room as possible.

 

Reaper looked to Hearth and called to him, getting the flame’s attention. “I WISH TO TEACH ABOUT GUNS TO GASTER AND SANS, CAN YOU STEER THE SHIP TO HERE?” Reaper point to where he wanted to go, before pointing somewhere else on the map. “WE ARE HERE, AND THERE IS A COMPASS NEXT TO THE WHEEL.”

 

“Sure thing, Captain.” Hearth grabbed the paper and walked over to the wheel, feeling it out for a moment, marveling at it, before focusing at the task at hand.

 

Reaper walked over to both Gaster and Sans, rubbing his hands together to ready himself. “ALRIGHT, YOU TWO ARE COMING WITH ME TO THE FRONT OF THE SHIP, THAT’S WHERE WE WILL PRACTICE SHOOTING AND TO FIX, LOAD AND HOLD A GUN.”

  
  


“You’ve never held a gun in your life, haven’t you, my son?” Gaster asked Sans as they followed their captain to the front of the ship. He had noticed Sans was being especially nervous about this, and while Gaster definitely didn’t like the thought of all of this, he wasn’t quite as anxious as Sans was.

 

“not like you ‘ave,” Sans scoffed, though his tone was quiet, like the question had offended and hurt him.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Sans! We’ve all been thrown out of our lives quite rapidly, of course we’d come to this unprepared,” Gaster told his son. “Though I have spent some years in the military, before king Asgore announced me as his inventor. I know my way around.”   
  
Sans looked at his dad surprised, both about how positive he was being again, but also about having never heard that from his father. “how come i don’ know anythin’ ‘bout that?” Sans asked, like he felt slightly lied to.

 

“Oh, you weren’t born yet,” Gaster assured him. “And… I don’t like talking about that time.”   
  
“...ah.”

  
  


Reaper had first explained how to hold a gun, talking about drawbacks and how to hold it to prepare yourself for it, positions to be in when holding a gun, like when you are crouching behind something and don’t want someone to see you. Reaper had used Gaster’s gun and got into the position to show them the correct way to have it, pointing out his feet position. Reaper briefly went through how to duck and cover when you think someone was looking your way, but they didn’t focus much on it.

 

Reaper mainly focused on how to load and hold the gun. Both guns Sans and Gaster had were different, but it was easy explaining for each one. “ONCE IT’S LOCKED AND LOADED, AIM AND SHOOT, I WOULD HAVE SOME TARGETS FOR YOU, BUT WE JUST CLEANED, SO THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN SHOOT FOR NOW.”

 

Death on the other hand, only having one student, was having a harder time. It was simple to show and teach how to use a gun, but blades are so much more different. One wrong move and you could hurt yourself, especially with the weapon Papyrus picked out. For now, Death didn’t want Papyrus to swing it around, instead, he had Pap learn the blades itself before trying to go pro and wave it around with chains.

 

Papyrus had a grip on each blade, with Death holding his own mini scythes in his own hands. “know yer blades be’fere ya go ‘round swinin’ dem all over da place, we will spare like dis fer now.” Death stood at the ready, body positioned for offensive. “fightin’ with da chain could be a problem, someone migh’ grab it and pull yer blades ‘way, so move like dis and al’ways know yer surroundin’s.”

  
  


Papyrus watched Death intently, soaking in the information like the knowledge hungry little sponge he was. He was mimicking Death’s position, holding the daggers in both his hands, double-checking where the chain was placed.

 

“LIKE THIS?” He asked Death, eyes glancing from his captain back to his own weapon every once in a while.

 

Grillby was sitting on the floor close, watching the two skeletons practice. Death really knew what he was doing, and it showed. It was odd, he was so young. Probably around their age, maybe even a bit younger, yet he was moving and teaching Papyrus like a complete master, like he had that kind of stuff running through his veins.   
  
It was captivating to watch.

  
  


“when movin’ yer foot, make sure ya turn it like dis, when ya do start swingin’ dat ‘round, ya gonna find yerself spinin’ a lot ta gain speed an’ stengh’ be’ind it.” Death motioned with his feet the way the feet should be moved, unless you twist your ankle or leave yourself open when recovering from the turn.

 

This went on for awhile, there had been breaks, but most of the day had been spent with the Reaper brother’s showing all four monsters how to use their weapons. Where Reaper showed both Sans and Gaster at the same time, Death trained with Papyrus first, then switched to Grillby when it was time for a break for Papyrus, viceversa. 

 

“when yer walkin’ back, keep yer eyes on me.” Death commanded, when Grillby looked behind himself to see where he was going, having Death backing him against the sail’s pillar. “yer foot is wrong, like dis.” Death moved his feet to show how Grillby should position himself.

 

“den move like dis when ya ‘re ready ta swin’.” Death moved his feet slowly, so Grillby can watch his every move.

  
  


The practice has been hard at first, for Grillby and Papyrus at least. There was a lot they had to keep in mind, position, footing, movements, a lot for them to take in. But they both started to get more used to it after a few hours.

  
They were far from naturals, still misstepping, still forgetting things or fretting over the wrong things, but they were showing effort and they were improving.

 

“Let me see if I can do it…” Grillby muttered, eyes to his own feet as he thought over what they had been practicing, before focusing back to Death, repeating the movements he had been shown, before going for a swing against the pirate.

  
  


Death moved his sword to block his, nodding. “much be’der, remember, da way ya put weight on some part of yer body can change da ‘ole t’ing. so t’ink wha ya wanna do ‘head of time.” Death dropped tips and advice here and there, and sometimes reminders when he thinks one of them are slacking in one part of their training.

 

By the time the sun was starting to go down, Death dropped himself onto Reaper’s lap, groaning. “first day is always rough, at least we got somet’in’ out of it.” To tell the truth, Death was quite pleased with the results. Sure Papyrus and Grillby weren’t the best, but this was their first day and they are taking the basics of blades very smoothly. A few months and Death believes they can go against actual people.

 

Reaper had an easier time with his students, Gaster listened well and did what he was told, while Sans might be a little harder, with his lack of strength, but he was smart and quick thinking… when it doesn’t evolve his emotions getting the better of him.

 

But otherwise, they did pretty good, they know how to load and hold a gun nicely. They didn’t shoot that much, there was no point in shooting without any targets, so they would just be wasting bullets. But they at least did shoot some, mostly to experience the drawbacks. A few more weeks and they should be good. All they have to cover is fixing their guns, just in case it gets clogged, and aiming. Which would take a bit of time.

 

“GRILLBY, DON’T YOU THINK IT’S MAYBE DINNER TIME SOON? CAN YOU MAKE SOMETHING FOR US NOW?” Reaper asked, petting his brother’s head lightly, like he was a cat demanding attention.

  
  


Grillby was just about ready for a break, too, about to sit down next to Sans. Though he stopped himself looking up surprised when he heard Reaper.

  
“Ah crap, I forgot. I’ll get right to it!” He said, already rushing under the deck to the ship’s kitchen, having remembered where it was from their clean out sesh. It wasn’t exactly like the kitchen back at the tavern, but it was enough to work with.

 

Sans was looking after Grillby a little disappointed, before glancing to Hearth. Guess he needs to replace one flame with another.

 

He was heading over to Hearth with a thought in his skull, feeling increasingly more nervous about it the closer he got to the other monster.

 

“hey, uh…” He muttered out once he got Hearth’s attention. “y’ ain’t busy right now?”

  
  


“No, do you need something, Sans?” Hearth turned to look at Sans, his hands on the wheel and he occasionally looked at the compass. Reaper and Gaster were on the deck, talking about guns and different types casually. Death had disappeared below deck with Grillby, probably to sneak food.

  
  


“yea, uh.” Sans also glanced towards the others, clearly in earshot, Papyrus lying on his back and watching the sky closely. Sans quickly pointed his thumb to the other end of the ship, away from them. “y’ mind if we could head somewhere more… private, so i uh. can tell you my deepest darkest secrets?”   
  
“I THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE INCIDENT???” Papyrus asked from over his spot, getting a quick glare from Sans.

 

“not  _ that _ secret, papy.”   
  
“OH. YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT  _ THAT _ ONE.”

 

“i’m no- can you stop listening into my conversation!?”

  
“NO THANK YOU!!!” Papyrus replied cheerily, giving Sans nothing more as a shrug, before the older brother huffed and looked back to Hearth, hopefully.

  
  


Hearth looked between the two brothers, then nodding dumbly, not sure where is was headed. “Reaper, can you take the wheel?” He called out to his Captain, who looked up surprised, but nodded all the same.

 

Once Reaper took charge of the wheel, Hearth let Sans drag him off to the other side of the ship, where they weren’t quite in ear shot anymore. “What did you want to tell me Sans?” Hearth asked again, looking confused but rather intrigued. 

  
  


“w-well…” Sans began awkwardly, sitting down on the floor of the ship. “this ‘s gonna be awkward. i ‘dunno why ‘m tellin’ you this, i just-  _ ugh. _ ” It wasn’t like Sans had anyone else to talk to about this, except Papyrus who was just too young for these kind of things, and Gaster who was, well. His father.

 

And it had been bothering for the past few days.

 

“i think i like grillby,” he muttered out quietly. “like. y’know…”

  
  


“Oh.” Hearth said, now realizing where this was headed, more alert. “ _ Oh. _ ” He sat down right next to Sans, following his lead. 

 

“You have a crush on Grillby.” Hearth stated, a huge grin forming.

  
  


Sans face grew blue at that, hands and arms covering his skull.

 

“shaddup!” He whined out, though really, Hearth was only repeating what Sans had already told him. 

 

“guhh, this ‘s really stupid,” he went on to complain, though, his voice muffled through his arms. “i ‘dunno wha’ to do about this!  _ hearth, _ wha’ do i do about it!? how do i turn off feelings!?”

  
  


“ _ Embrace them _ , Sans. Embrace them.” Hearth’s tone was dark, like he was trying to pull Sans into a cult. “There is no running from it, just like I can’t run from my feeling for Death. There is no where you can hide.” Hearth laughed evilly, even when he was a literal light source, it seemed like his face was in shadows, mocking the skeleton.

  
  


Sans let out a small whine. He had removed his arms from his face and was now looking up at Hearth with small, scared eyes.

 

“there… might be somethin’ else, too…” He muttered out to him.

  
  


“Oh?” Hearth hummed, smile growing. “Please tell me Sans, do go on~”

  
  


The whine Sans’ let out sounded almost like one from a dying animal, and he was squirming nervously as he was trying to figure out his words. Oh boy. Oh boy.

 

“i uh… well…” He began, tone sounding like he was going to explain him why his father hasn’t come back from getting medieval cigarettes three days ago yet. “so i… spent s’me time getting adjusted, y’know… and uh… i realized… that… i also really like death?” He squeaked out the last part, barely audible anymore, looking up at Hearth both worried and troubled and flustered.

  
  


Hearth paused, staring at Sans for only a moment, not speaking. He was processing what it means, for him, to Sans, and to Death…

 

Sans liked both Death and Grillby.

 

Oh boy.

 

Hearth placed both hands on Sans’ shoulders, looking him in the eye sockets. “My love for Death isn’t so crazy now, huh?” He was glaring at Sans, but with a smile on his face. “Well… I don’t mind sharing, if you can that is. But I’m not stopping till he is  _ mine _ , so tread carefully.” 

 

Hearth was challenging Sans to a race, not to see who can have him, but who will get him  _ first _ . Who says one can’t have more than one love?

 

Besides, Hearth doesn’t have the heart to shoot someone’s love down just because he wants them too. He didn’t do that to Grillby when they hooked up with Sans, and he isn’t going to do this here either…

 

And Death deserves all the love he could get.

 

Maybe with their joined forces, Death can let them in and they can love him.

  
  


Sans was looking up at Hearth with big, startled eyes, not having expected that kind of reaction. “sh-share?” He muttered out, almost like he couldn’t do anything. “bu’ why- how- why would you-!? y’... you wouldn’ mind it…? a’ all?”   
  
  


“I didn’t mind sharing you with Grillby back then,” Hearth pointed out. “Sugar skull~” He winked at the skeleton, letting the memories come back with those words, hands going up to caress Sans’ cheek.

 

Before laughing lightly, smile bright as ever.

  
  


Sans laughed, too, though quieter and certainly more nervous and his face was burning brightly. Dammit. And he had almost managed to not think about that, it just made the whole situation more awkward and embarrassing.

 

He was literally talking to his one-night-stand about his crush on his other one-night-stand and a highly wanted criminal.


	20. dont. touch. me.

Death had followed Grillby down to below deck the second he heard food was involved. The small Captain watched Grillby as he worked in the kitchen section of the second floor, Grillby’s back turned to him. Slowly, ever so slowly, he snuck up on the flame, when the skeleton was sure he wasn’t looking, he reached out for a piece of cheese, drool starting to fall from his grinning mouth.

 

He  _ really  _ loved food~

  
  


Grillby slapped away the small skeleton’s hand, carefully, but still firm. “You can eat when I’m done,” he told Death, before picking up the cheese himself, cutting it, before adding it to the food.

 

He was not going to have a small captain eat away his ingredients.

  
  


“ey!” Death hissed, moving his hand to his chest, frowning at Grillby. “ey, ‘m yer cap’ten, dis ain’  _ fair _ !” He pouted, hitting Grillby’s arm over and over again, but it felt more like little pats with how little strength Death put into it.

  
  


“I’m preparing a dish just for you guys, wouldn’t want you to fill yourself up with cheese before we all get to eat it, do we?” Grillby asked, his tone slightly chiding, though there was also a small laugh at Death’s behavior in it. One of his hands went to catch Death’s hitting hand, gently moving it down.

 

“If you want to busy yourself you can help me cook?”

  
  


“hmmm…” Death hummed in thought, thinking it over. This was a chance to have access to the food, get close, sneak some into his mouth. “sure.” He said after a moment’s thought. “wha da i do?” 

 

Death had  _ zero  _ cooking experience, so of course he had no idea what he would be told to do or what was the point in it. Food is food, right? Whenever Reaper cooks, he keeps Death  _ away  _ from the food, knowing full well Death is a black hole that will devour everything. Grillby made a bad move letting Death help him cook.

  
  


Grillby actually gave Death a small, excited smile, before handing him the kitchen knife - warily - and moving over some vegetables to him.

 

“Could you cut these for me?” He asked the skeleton.

  
  


Death stared at the vegetables, onion, cucumber, tomato and a potato. Death grabbed the knife he was handed, but once everything was in place, he dropped the knife and grabbed all four veggies, stuffing his mouth in. Now Death can open his mouth wide, so it was quite easy fitting all them all in, only one side of the cucumber was slightly poking out, drool coming down his chin.

  
  


“ _ No! _ ” Grillby almost screamed, startled, before practically pouncing Death to the ground, hands working desperately on Death’s jaw to get it to open again. “Give that back!”

  
  


Death sucked in his breath, growing stiff. His jaw clenching hard, the little bit of cucumber being sliced off and tumble to the floor, but it wasn’t alone. “ _ don’ touch my eyes!” _ Death screeched, but talking made the veggies clog his throat, making him choke and spit out the vegetables. But Death didn’t care in the least about the food, he still grabbed both of Grillby’s wrists, in a tight hold as he looked straight at him. 

 

“ _ don’. touch. my. eyes.”  _ Death was choking, blue drool going down his chin, but he still was strong and stern.

  
  


“ _ Oh fuck, _ ” Grillby gasped out, wanting to draw his hands back quickly, but kept them limp in Death’s hold. Captain Meister’s words rang in his head like a mantra, only making him feel all the worse. “Sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you, I never meant to touch your eyes!”   
  
He knew the vegetables were gone for, but that was the least Grillby cared for right now, worry and guilt overshadowing it by great lengths. 

 

“Please calm down,” he said, his voice small and concerned. “It’s all fine. I’m not touching you.”

  
  


Death stayed still for what felt like forever, but only was a few minutes. Finally his grip on Grillby loosened, before letting go completely, the skeleton’s hands going straight for the dropped veggies, grabbing them and stuffing them back into his mouth. Fuck hygiene. Five minute rule.

 

“relax.” Death commanded, relaxing himself. The sound of vegetables breaking apart in his mouth was loud, distracting. “ye got more in da bag, ‘ight?”

  
  


Grillby let out a relieved sigh, carefully pulling his hands back and getting back up. “Yea…” He mumbled out, though his mind was not with the vegetables anymore. 

 

“...Are you okay?” He asked, though trying not to make it more casual rather than awkward, continuing to cook his abandoned dish, getting out some new vegetables to cut them himself.

  
  


“yes. why ya ask? ‘m not ‘armed.” Death stated, dusting his clothes off even if there was nothing on them. Grillby didn’t push him hard, and nothing on his face was damaged. Grillby has made no move to hurt him besides get too close to his face than he had liked.

 

Death swallowed, getting up and laying his chin on the counter, watching Grillby’s movements, eyeing the cherries close by. Debating if he should bother if Grillby was on watch, but decided to fuck it and go for them anyways. Hand already reaching out to grab them.

  
  


“No!” Grillby said, catching Death’s hand once more. “Not again! No snacks for you, don’t make me have to ban you from the kitchen.” He wasn’t actually serious about that, both because he knew Death was the captain, not him, but also because he actually… enjoyed having Death here. It was nice to not be alone when you cook.

 

Though really, he couldn’t have him eat away all of their food. It had to last for at least  _ some _ time!

  
  


“bro ‘lready banned me, but ‘ere i am. ya can never stop me.” Death grinned, reaching with his other hand for a loaf of bread.

  
  


But Grillby caught the bread before Death did, moving it out of his range. And he didn’t stop there. He really wasn’t going to get anywhere with this little gremling stealing his food, so he put both hands under Death’s arms, hoisting him up. He held the pirate close for a moment, adjusting his grip, before moving him on his shoulders, too high to reach any of the ingredients scattered around.

 

“This is your time-out zone,” he said, with a playfully stern voice. But he did go through their food to find a small piece of jerky and hand it up to Death. “This is the only thing you’ll get, so savor it. Behave or you won’t get any dinner.”

  
  


Death frowned, but quickly took the jerky, nibbling at the edge of it. His legs crossed to have a better hold from falling off, and curled around the head of the flame, pouting. But he sat there, quiet and eating his jerky slowly, savoring it like he was told.

 

He wanted dinner after all.

 

“wha’da’ya makin’ anyways?” Death asked, resting his head on the other’s.

  
  


“A stew,” Grillby told him absently. “Not the most… special dish, but it’s easy to make a lot of and I still have to get used to how much I need to cook for all of you.” He’s only ever cooked for one person, or three at most if he cooked for his family. Seven was… a lot more.

 

“It should be done soon, too, so you don’t have to starve yourself either,” he cooed up to the small skeleton, before holding a spoon with a little bit of the stew to Death’s face. “Is this any good?”

  
  


Death brighten at the sight, leaning forward to quickly take the spoonful into his mouth. He moaned in joy, hand going to his cheek as his smile became soft but wide, cheeks growing blue. “hmmmm, never ‘ad somet’in’ dis good in a long time. good choice makin’ ya chef~” 

 

Death had flown into his own little world with just a spoonful, letting go of the spoon to melt onto the elemental’s head. “dis is good!” Way better than just eating the food straight up, who knew combining them would taste even better?!

  
  


Grillby felt his own face warm up a little, a smile growing on his face. He didn’t think he’s ever seen someone react this way to his cooking. Except Hearth maybe, though with him Grillby always wondered if he might just be exaggerating to make Grillby feel better.

 

With Death he really didn’t think he would do that, just to make Grillby feel good.

 

“Thank you,” the elemental said happily, going on to finish up the dish. Feeling very comfortable with the skeleton on his shoulder.

 

-

 

Grillby has brought the stew to the deck, since  _ someone  _ had to keep watch for other ships and to steer the ship.

 

By then Death was already off Grillby’s shoulders, or then he would have run the risk of getting hit by the wall over the door when Grillby passed it. Everyone gathered around to get their own share, sitting down near the captain’s wheel to have Hearth be apart of the group. 

 

Hearth, who had taken the wheel again with one hand holding his bowl and his arm keeping the wheel in place as he used the hand to spoon the stew into his mouth, because Reaper didn’t want to eat with the group, climbing up the sail with his own bowl, managing to not spill any on his way up. Death followed since he didn’t want his brother to eat alone, grabbing his own bowl and climbing up after him.

 

“Well then…?” Hearth said hesitantly, watching the two brothers climb up the sail to the crow’s nest with their bowls. “Um..?”

  
  


“AWWW,” Papyrus cooed a little disappointed. “I HAD HOPED TO EAT DINNER WITH THEM!!!”

 

“reaper doesn’ like eatin’ in public,” Sans noted, getting a nod back from Papyrus.

 

“I KNOW!!! IT’S STILL A SHAME!”

 

“It is…” Grillby added. Huh. So they were probably not going to eat with them in any near future either. Which was okay, but kind of a shame.

 

“SOOO,” Papyrus decided to coo instead, giving it no chance for an awkward silence to build up. He was leaning over his bowl of food a little, closer to Hearth. “WHAT DARK SECRETS WERE YOU AND MY BROTHER TALKING ABOUT?”

 

“Dark secrets?” Grillby repeated surprised.

  
  


“Where Sans told me all the embarrassing stuff you have done during the years, and how Sans has the guilty pleasure of laughing at them.” Hearth informed him without missing a beat, smile twitching as he spooned more stew into his mouth.

  
  


“I HAVE DONE NO EMBARRASSING THINGS!!!” Papyrus defended himself quickly, looking offended, while Sans let out a brief, relieved sigh.

 

“Oh, I don’t exactly remember it like that…” Gaster muttered, barely noticable. Though he  _ did _ get Sans’ attention, the skeleton staring at him with an excited smile. “...What?”   
  
“y’ can’t just say somethin’ like that and then  _ not _ dish any out, pops!”   
  
“Oh?” Gaster said surprised. “I thought you were the one telling around dark secrets.”   
  
“eh, only to hearth. y’r job is public sharing.”   
  
“WE DO NOT SHARE ANY EMBARRASSING STORIES OF ME THAT DON’T EXIST!!!” Papyrus screeched out, only to get a small laugh from Gaster.

 

“Well, then I suppose I’ll share some embarrassing stories that  _ do _ exist…” He said, before he did just that, the other monsters, excluding Papyrus, listening intently and excitedly. He told them about the time Sans managed to make Papyrus believe his pet rock was alive for at least three months. The time Papyrus had gone lost as a child, Sans and Gaster having searched him all day, worried sick, only to find the young skeleton having befriended a whole crew that had been stuck at the docks for as long as Papyrus was there. He hadn’t wanted to leave them, but they also couldn’t leave with him, and no one really had had the heart to tell Papyrus to go. And then he told them about the time Papyrus was older and Sans managed to make him believe his new pet rock was alive for another two months.

  
  


It was quite the story, each and every one of them. All that got Hearth to laugh, of course when he felt like he was making Papyrus feel bad, he would pat the skeleton on the head and give him a reassuring smile. A ‘You did your best!’ or a ‘Your one of a kind, a good one.’ to make him feel better.

 

The stories had taken up dinner, at one point Reaper and Death came down, but decided to stay unnoticed and hang from the sail with their chained scythes acting as swings, listening in.

 

Only when Gaster told the second story about the new pet rock that Reaper accidently let out a loud snort, Death looking at him mildly amused and curious.

  
  


Papyrus turned around quickly at the noise, spotting their two captains hanging from the sail. “AH!!! NOT YOU TWO, TOO! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE!?”

 

Though Sans and Grillby seemed more excited about it, both smiling up at the Reaper brothers.

 

“‘ow nice of you to join us,” Sans cooed happily. “y’ wanna sit down with us or are y’ comfortable just  _ hangin’ out? _ ”

  
  


Death actually let out a laugh, not holding back. “i  _ sea  _ wha ya did d’ere, don’ mind us  _ swin’in’  _ by i ‘ope?” To make his point, Death pushed himself back and forth on his makeshift swing, grinning wide.

 

Reaper only groaned in agony. “NOW THERE IS TWO…”

  
  


“aw, you sayin’ that’s  _ two _ much for you?” Sans called towards Reaper, though he, too, got an agonized groan.

 

“YES HE IS,” Papyrus said. “PLEASE… HAVE MERCY ON US.”

 

“pirates know no mercy.”

  
  


“does it… rattle yer bones?” Death giggled evilly, only to have his brother frown deeply at him, clearly unimpressed. Right before he pushed Death off, letting him fall onto the deck, smacking on it, yet still Death giggled, not moving from his spot face down, but giggling either way.

 

“ONE MORE AND I WILL SEND YOU OVER BOARD.” Reaper threatened them, only getting Death to giggle harder.

  
  


Sans was laughing as well, both at the puns, but also and mostly because of how contagious Death’s laugh was.

 

“aww, don’ do that, i like ‘im. ‘m not  _ on board _ with that plan, reap’,” he said, before wheezing out another laugh when he simply heard Papyrus clap both his hands over his face in desperation.

 

The young skeleton looked up at Reaper, eyes cold. “DO IT. DO IT TO BOTH OF THEM.”

  
  


Reaper actually jumped down his perch, marching straight to Sans, but when he passed Death, his brother quickly got up and tackled him, throwing them both overboard. Thankfully there was no splash and their voices were still heard.

 

“I’M THROWING YOU TWO OVERBOARD!”

 

“no!”

 

“YES!’

 

“no, hahaha!”

 

“AAAAAAA!”

 

Both the brothers bickering back and forth, but there was a light hearted tone to it, which didn’t set alarms.

 

Hearth sighed in relief, they were all playing…

  
  


“aww, am i not invited to the pool party?” Sans asked, as he went up to where they’d both tossed themselves over board, peeking down at them. Though honestly, he was just fine being up here and dry and not falling again.

 

“IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR PUNISHMENT!!!” Papyrus complained, already placing down his empty bowl and getting up. “NOT FUN TIME!!! BUT I CAN THROW YOU OVER BOARD MYSELF!”

 

“wha-?  _ ah! _ ” As he turned around, Sans already saw Papyrus dashing after him, and he ran away with a loud half scream half laugh, the taller skeleton chasing his older brother over the deck.

 

Grillby was watching them curiously, a small smile on his face. Everyone really seemed happy to be here. Even Gaster seemed to slowly grow to the idea. It was… nice.

  
  


“Why are skeletons so adorable?” Hearth asked, sighing in thought as he watched all brothers playing around, Death and Reaper scrambling back onto the deck, and Sans and Papyrus running around like children.

 

“They’re all so cute…” Hearth smiled. “Or maybe that just what happens when you have a sibling….” He mused, watching them with interest.

 

Then looked at Grillby, curious. “Are we like that?”

  
  


“No.” Grillby replied coldly. “I think you just have a weird skeleton fetish.” Though he was obviously teasing Hearth, flashing the elemental a smug smile after his words.

 

Really, though. He had a point… He could see why Hearth liked Death so much, and they had both decided on how cute Sans was a little while ago… Maybe they both had weird skeleton fetishists. Maybe that’s an elemental thing. Or maybe they’re both just very weird people.

  
  


Hearth playfully glared at the flame, grin in place.


	21. Sans is absolutely not ready

They were scattered on the deck, getting ready for another day of training. Hearth was once more taking charge of the wheel, which meant he’d be incapable of making any moves on Death during their training. 

 

Sans, however, also was sorted in for training with Reaper rather than Death and when he thought over it the day before, he almost regretted it. Before he remembered one little tidbit he had on him.

 

“so captain, y’ think i can, uh. can join you in trainin’ today?” Sans asked the short skeleton, lifting his foot and reaching with his hand to pull a dagger out of his shoe. “thought y’ could help me with that one a little…”

  
  


“hmm? i guess, but ya just started with guns, da ya really wanna tackle on more?” Death turned to Sans, eyeing the place Reaper was watching Gaster load the gun like told, alone. While that would mean Death had three charges.

 

Unfair balance if you ask him.

  
  


“gun ain’t  _ that _ much ‘s long ‘s we don’ got no targets, right?” Sans replied with a small shrug. “pops’ll tell me wha’ i missed. the whole blade stuff, though, looks like a lot more t’ practice.”   
  
He really didn’t give two shits about what he had to practice. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to use either to begin with - even if it was a dire hope - and he knew that if he’d got to practice blades, he’d be with Death  _ and _ Grillby both. Win-Win.

  
  


Death hummed in thought, looking at his other two charges, “t’ree is a lot… i would ‘ave ta send one over ta bro…” He considered his options. Papyrus doesn’t seem like the type to use a gun, both reasons in fact, he is to energetic and physical to hold a gun straight, and his body would work more in hand to hand or any other physical weapon. Besides, this kids morals are something to consider.

 

This is a bad crewmate in natural reasons, this kid hesitates and shows more mercy than Death needs. But he…

 

Grillby is more on the fence. Death could see him both using a gun and fighting head to head, with his calm dementor and thinking rationally, it would work for both. So he guesses the better choice to make is Grillby…

 

“grillby! yer with guns taday, t’ink it would serve ya well.” It will, one day he might just need to pick up a gun. Death and Reaper need a reliable crew.

  
  


“wait- wha-!?” 

 

“Alright, captain,” Grillby replied, giving Sans a soft apologetic smile. He had the feeling Sans had wanted to join him for training today, though he also knew it wasn’t going to work out like that.

 

Switching up would do some good though, so Grillby joined up with Reaper and Gaster without complaining.

 

Sans glanced after Grillby a little disappointed, but quickly turned back to Death. That was alright. He’ll still get to see him. Get to have him teach him how to fight. It’d still be good.

  
  


“sans is first, kay paps?” Death backed away from Sans a little, before just standing with no weapons on hand. “since yer so inta dis, let’ go.” Death motioned Sans to come at him.

 

“try ta stab me, don’ ‘old back.” Death left himself open, but clearly he was ready to move at anytime. “gonna show ya ‘ow ta disarm someone with a dagger.”

  
  


“a’right,” Sans replied, dagger in his hand, knees slightly bent in something that was clearly not a proper fighting position, but at least trying to be one. “bu’ watch out. this ain’t my first ride.” Which, well. Wasn’t exactly a lie. Though wouldn’t have to mean a lot either.

 

He only took a few seconds to get himself mentally ready, to actually get himself into a mindset to swing his dagger. Before he did, aiming for his captain’s stomach.

  
  


“when ya ‘ave someone tryin’ ta swin’ a’ ya, ya should stay yer distance. but dat move ya did first, direc’ attack.” Death swerved to the side, moving one of his legs to dodge, making the dagger and Sans fly by him.

 

“use one leg as axis ta ‘urn an’ dodge.” Before Death grabbed Sans’ wrist, the one holding the blade with one hand, and the other on Sans’ neck. “den grab da wris’ an’ neck a’ da same time, an’ den ‘old dem down as ya pull on d’ere wris’.”

 

Death pulled on said wrist, pulling Sans for a loop and making him drop to the floor, Death moving to sit on top of Sans’ back. “twis’ da wris’ ta make dem drop da blade if ya can, an’ kick it ‘way.” Death did just that, twist Sans’ wrist until the skeleton dropped it, then kicked it away.

 

“only do dis when dey do direc’ attack.” Death leaned down to hover over Sans’ head.

  
  


Sans was lying underneath Death, breath long taken. Despite the fact Death had gone especially slow, it was still too much and too fast for Sans to have done anything, had he even wanted to.

  
“damn,” Sans breathed out, impressed. “fuck, that was really good.” The way Death had moved seemed so smooth and natural, like he didn’t even need to think about it the least. 

  
  


“we gonna do dis ‘gain an’ ‘gain til ya got dis ‘ight, got it?” Death moved off Sans’ going after the dagger in a light run. “now ‘m goin’ ‘fter ya. get ready.” Death turned around, blade in hand while being in a ready position.

  
  


Sans was absolutely not ready. He watched Death swing for him with his own dagger. He was captivated by the way his body moved, every limb in a specific place, giving Death the most advantaged position. His movements swift, non-hesitating, knowing exactly what he was doing.

 

Sans did not.

  
At all.

 

And he only remembered he was supposed to disarm Death by the last second, moving his leg and twisting his body in a way that made him stumble. Realizing he was falling, Sans let out a startled yelp, reaching out to catch himself on the closest thing he could grab, which was Death.

  
  


Death felt the pull and was knocked off balance, his feet not in the appropriate position to hold his ground from the side. Thankfully the dagger wasn’t close to where Death was jabbing at, but… he didn’t want to fall either.

 

Death landed on Sans, but Death moved quickly and moved his arm closer to Sans’ head, letting the very tip of the dagger touch Sans’ skull, letting the skeleton under him know it’s there, right there. “dead.” Death murmured, looking up from Sans’ chest. 

  
  


Sans’ eyes were wide, staring down at Death both startled and impressed. He could feel the knife to his forehead, not painful, but noticeable. He let out a wheezy breath.

 

“...fuck,” he breathed out. “‘m sorry…” 

 

His hands were still on Death, holding onto the captain’s coat. Hesitant to let go. And he wished,  _ so badly, _ that Death wasn’t as oblivious to those kinda things as he was. Not because of how badly Sans wanted to move his hands to Death’s back, run them over his body - which he did, but couldn’t ever do. But because  _ this _ was nothing. No reaction at all.

 

It was… unsatisfying.

  
  


“dis is why we doin’ dis more dan once, ya knew yerself dat blades demand prac’ice.” Death moved the hand away, so the dagger wouldn’t be so promunet. “‘gain. ‘ere, ‘m gonna do it ‘gain an’ ya watch me.” 

 

Death had left the dagger with Sans, getting up to start again, but only got so far as to sit on Sans. Confused, Death looked and saw the reason, Sans was holding onto his coat very tightly. Huh?

 

“i know wha ‘m doin’ sans, ya ‘eren’ in danger.” Death reminded, looking down at the skeleton under him.

  
  


“a-ah, right!” Sans uttered out slightly flustered, not having realized how tightly he was still holding onto Death. He let go slowly, still slightly hesitantly, letting Death get off of him again, before following him up. 

 

Papyrus was watching it all from afar, sitting on the railing to have a higher viewpoint, close to Hearth on the wheel to not be as alone. “I DON’T THINK MY BROTHER ASKED DEATH FOR BLADES TRAINING TO ACTUALLY PRACTICE BLADES…” Papyrus muttered, half to himself, half to the other elemental. Though he didn’t sound upset or anything, mostly intrigued. He’s never seen his brother quite act this way.

  
  


“Guess you know his deepest, darkest secrets, huh?” Hearth smirked, hinting in his voice. He was watching too, and from his view, so was Grillby. And oh boy, Grillby actually didn’t look happy with this, neither did Hearth, because he wouldn’t get a chance in training like Sans would. But still, both elementals? Jealous? 

 

They are going to have to see if Grillby is joining this race, or he is after one of the competitors. 

  
  


Grillby was, indeed, not exactly happy about what he was seeing. He knew Sans has had some kind of motives when he asked to join Death’s training, but… was he really trying to get onto Death now? He  _ knew _ as much as Grillby did that Hearth already had his eyes on the pirate, as well as that  _ Death _ was most likely not on the table to begin with.

 

He was a  _ mass murderer. _ He was  _ scarred. _

 

It shouldn’t have bother him as much as it did. What Sans did was none of his business, and he’d have to sort that out with Hearth himself. 

 

He let out a tense sigh, before focusing back on his own training. He could tell Reaper was starting to get frustrated with his flickering attention.

 

Papyrus on the other hand was still benched, watching Hearth curiously. “SO THAT’S WHAT HE TOLD YOU???” Papyrus asked him. “AND HERE I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SOMETHING BAD!!! WHY WOULDN’T HE TELL ME?”

 

Though he knew well enough that Sans wasn’t always going to him to talk about him. Papyrus loved his brother and he knew his brother loved him, but they were also very different people, and Sans probably needed someone at least a little bit more like him when talking about things like that.

  
  


“Because I like Death too, so now we are racing for who gets him first. Of course, we can share, if it comes down to it. But it’s all up to Death.” Hearth hummed, enjoying his position in the race, it was fun. He also has the advantage of being a good flirt, and working around different types of people to charm them.

 

“Death sure got our fancy, didn’t he?” He laughed lightly. “He’s so cute.”

  
  


“OH???” Papyrus said surprised. “YOU BOTH LIKE THE CAPTAIN??? YOU’RE VERY WEIRD!” He hoped that alone hasn’t been their motivation of joining the pirate crew. That would probably get them in trouble sooner or later. Though Sans seemed to be enjoying himself, and Hearth seemed to be having fun, too. He just hoped they knew not to let it get out of hands.

 

“DO NOT HURT HIM, THOUGH.” Papyrus warned. “DON’T LET YOUR LITTLE GAME HURT DEATH.”

  
  


“Of course!” Hearth exclaimed, almost sounding offended. “We know what he’s been through, and we are going around it. We aren’t doing them to get in his pants, he clearly wouldn’t want anything to do with it, no, we like who he is as a person. If anything, I want to love him, and help heal him.” Hearth nodded at his words, liking it. They felt right, they felt like they belong.

 

Death.

 

You have people that want you. In any way, shape or form.

 

You adorable sadist fucker, you.

  
  


“ _ fuck, _ ” Sans breathed out, his face flushed as Death swiped the blade once more, close to Sans’ neck, but stopping before it reached it. They weren’t getting anywhere with this training. Every time Sans had to move, he got distracted. Distracted by Death, by his movements. Distracted by memories, treasure hunting stories he told him, his puns, the way he could climb along the ship’s wall like some sort of spider.

 

“y’ think… hah… y’ think y’ can teach me ‘ow to climb on those metal thingies some time…?” Sans asked, slightly out of breath, his eyes flushed and eyes only focused on the wrong things.

  
  


Death’s free hand went to chop Sans’ head, not hard, but it wasn’t soft either. “focus!” Death hissed, glaring at the skeleton before dropping down and swiping his feet to trip Sans. Getting up and looking down at the falling crew member, pointing the dagger straight at him. “yer gettin’ nowhere, stop t’inkin’ of o’der t’ings an’ focus on da damn  _ blade  _ in fron’ of ya.”

 

Death tsked, “dis is a was’e of time. dis is yer last chance, er we’re done.” he warned, already backing up to put space between them, waiting for Sans to get up and try again.

  
  


“COME ON, BROTHER!!! YOU CAN DO IT!” Sans heard Papyrus cheering him on. “YOU WON’T IMPRESS ANYONE LIKE THAT!!!”

 

Sans glanced towards his brother, having been distracted enough to almost forget he was here. But he got up quickly, his throat tight with anxiety. Fuck. He really had to make this one count, didn’t he.

 

Sans got himself in position, eyes feigning confidence. “‘m ready,” he lied, and this time, he actually tried to focus. On the actual task at hand.

  
  


Death went forward, making a few swings before going for the direct attack. He really wasn’t expecting Sans to do it, only giving the last chance for Sans to have room for growth with failure. But really, if you would have asked Death if Sans could do it, he would say no.

  
  


But Sans was determined. Sans had a goal set in mind, focused and more ready than he expected himself to be.

 

He moved his legs to dodge almost instinctively, copying the moves he’s seen Death do for him over and over again. Before he knew it he was moving his arms, reaching for Death’s wrist and neck, dropping the skeleton on the ground, automatically landing on top of him.

 

Sans was breathing heavily, staring down at the skeleton underneath him like he didn’t quite believe what just happened. He  _ didn’t. _ But Papyrus’ excited cheering  _ did _ let him know it was real.

 

It was only after a second that Sans’ remembered the dagger in Death’s hand and he let out a quick, “ _ fuck, _ ” before twisting Death’s wrist to make him drop the dagger. Though he didn’t quite think to kick it away, instead reaching for it himself, dagger tight in his hands as he tried a swing at Death.

  
  


Death was left gasping in shock as Sans actually done it, pulling him to the ground like that. To Death, everything went in slow motion, but what got his attention was when Sans actually let go of his wrist and grabbed the dagger himself. What? Death told him to kick it awa-

 

He heard the wind from a incoming blade.

 

He didn’t have time to react, didn’t have time to unbalance Sans. It wouldn’t have stopped his blade anyways.

 

Death acted quickly, crossing his arms over his head and waited for the blow. He felt it, the blade touching and cutting his bone.

 

Well played Sans. Well played.

 

But Death didn’t scream, didn’t utter a single sound, he knew never to scream. Never to give them that joy.

 

After the blade went, Death moved quickly and knocked Sans off, rolling away. Death was on one knee as he examined his arms. Both his sleeves were slashed, and blood was oozing out and staining it, but thankfully it wasn’t much, not deep.

 

He looked up at Sans, surprised. Waiting for an explanation. 

  
  


Sans was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he got himself up, only to sit on the ground cross legged. His eyes were on his dagger, little bits of blood on it, before they moved over to Death, his eyes wide.

 

“aah  _ shit, _ ” he hissed out. “fuck, fuck, i didn’ mean to- i jus’ saw the opportunity an’ it  _ felt _ right!  _ fuck. _ ‘m sorry.”   
  
He was going for a false swing, not actually meaning to hurt the other. But he was acting much more on instinct than thought, not quite in control of all of his movements. Dammit. He didn’t want to  _ hurt _ Death!

  
  


Reaper turned sharply, watching blood on Death’s sleeves, watching it slowly drip to his hands. He didn’t say anything, but he was watching with hawk eyes.

 

Death only smiled though, he smiled widely. “hah, yer kiddin’ ‘ight!? dat was good, ya would’a got em. i like dat, i like dis a lot!” Death was laughing, laughing and grinning, getting up in the process. 

 

“show me more of dat, if ya can do dis kinda t’ing fer da crew, den ya migh’ jus’ not be a was’e ‘fter all!” Death relaxed, voice and grin showing pride as he started to walk up to him.

 

“jus’ don’ kill me while yer at it~” Death added, quickly.

  
  


Sans stood up once he saw Death walking to him, feeling warm and excited at the pride in his captain’s voice. “heh, uh. i’ll try my best!” He promised the other skeleton, before quickly turning the dagger in his hand away from both of them, as he was suddenly pushed into Death, Papyrus having tackled Sans from behind.   
  
“YOU DID IT!!!” The younger brother cheered excitedly and loudly into Sans’ rhetorical ear. “I KNEW YOU COULD DO GREAT!!! BROTHER!!! YOU’RE AMAZING!!!”

 

“i wouldn’ quite say amazin’ yet…”

  
  


“ya did  _ cut  _ me withou’ me  _ lettin’  _ ya, ‘d say dat it coun’s.” Death decided to add, moving his arms to grab at Sans’ arm, pulling him away from his space casually. 

  
  


Did Death just tell him he was amazing? Is  _ that _ what Death just agreed to?

 

Sans was taken aback, almost frozen in Papyrus’ hold as he watched Death intently.

 

“n-nah, y’ jus’ weren’ expectin’... i mean… i jus’ got really lu-  _ ah! ouch! _ ”

 

Papyrus was hitting Sans on the back of his skull, gently of course, but still frowning down at him fiercely.

  
“YOU DID GREAT AND YOU’RE AMAZING!” The young skeleton concluded. “NO ARGUING ABOUT IT! NO BUTS!”

  
  


Death grinned, nodding, “yup, no arguin’, cuz it’ paps ‘urn.” Looking at the younger skeleton as he backed away. “let’ go softy.”


	22. Death is the new shrek

After training, Reaper went straight to Death to treat the wounds, getting complaints from said brother. It ended up with Reaper pinning Death down, until he washed and wrapped both arms, Death scrambling away under the deck to follow Grillby to the kitchen.

 

Death went down the stairs quickly, eyeing Grillby’s back as he snuck up behind him. This time, this time he won’t notice. Death reaches for a onion that was in the vegetable crate on the floor close to Grillby, yet still out of the way.

  
  


Grillby decided to make some of the fish they had today, before it would go bad. They didn’t exactly have a way to freeze it on the ship, so it had to go quickly.

 

He had been undisturbed for most of a time, or at least so he thought. Past the noises of his cooking he could hear soft chewing noises, crunches, enough for Grillby to turn his head and find Death hiding from him with an onion.

 

He scrunched his nose a little at the thought of Death eating a pure onion, but that wasn’t really his biggest worry.   
  
“Aw, and here I thought you could help me tell if the food was any good,” Grillby hummed in a disappointing tone. “But I suppose you’d rather have your onions.”

  
  


“ya know be’der dan ta trus’ me ta ‘elp.” Death pointed out, biting half of the almost gone onion, now chewing normally now that he was caught. “w’y aa ‘eed mm’y ‘elf any’waa?” Death said through the mouth full of onion, swallowing before continuing. “‘ren’ ya da chef??”

  
  


“I don’t need your help, but it’s nice to have an outside opinion,” Grillby mused thoughtfully. “I don’t always know what I’m doing, and it’s good to know I’m not messing up the dish. Plus… it was nice having you around once you were on my shoulders and stopped stealing food.”

 

He really had hoped it could be like that again. Or at least that he didn’t have to watch out for a food stealing gremlin on top of having to cook.

  
  


Death stayed quiet, thinking over his options. Should he dodge Grillby the whole time while stealing food? Or steal food when Grillby thinks he isn’t? Hmm…

 

He ate the rest of the onion in one go, before grabbing a tomato and stuffing the whole thing in his mouth slowly, making sure he was making eye contact with the flame. Well… as much eye contact with someone who is covering his eyes.

 

“wha ya wan’ me ta do?” Death relented, going up slowly to Grillby, yet still looking like he would jump away if Grillby tried to grab him and set him on his shoulders.

  
  


“I just needed to know if this is any good,” Grillby said, spooning a few of the cut up vegetables on a wooden spoon. “The fish isn’t going to be enough on it’s down, though I also don’t want everyone to just leave their vegetables if they’re not good.”

 

He knew he should play harder to get. Pull up some ground rules, assert his dominance at least in the kitchen. But as soon as he saw Death coming closer he bent down on one knee, holding the spoon towards Death with hopeful eyes.

 

Death was like a spoiled cat, and Grillby was only spoiling him more, wasn’t he?

  
  


Death happily ate the food on the spoon, his smile growing at being given food freely. “dis migh’ be flawed, i eat anyt’in’.” But that wasn’t gonna stop him from getting food!

 

“i like it, an’ ey, if dey don’ like it, i can eat it!” He pointed out, like it was a solution to Grillby’s problem. 

  
  


“That wouldn’t quite work out,” Grillby replied, though he gave him a small chuckle. “I want all of them to eat enough, you don’t want an underfed crew, now do you?”

 

He took his spoon back, but didn’t quite get up again yet, instead using his free hand to clap on his own shoulders. “Come on, up up. I’ll let you taste a little more if you behave.”

  
  


Death sucked in his breath, his mouth forming into a weird smile, he really couldn’t stop smiling to be honest. He was a skeleton, a skeleton that would always smile, but it could form into a different smile, like now, now he was debating. A debating smile.

 

The promise of food intrigued him.

 

“fine.” He climbed up onto the flame’s shoulders, keeping balance by again wrapping his arms around the others neck and hands hold Grillby’s head. “gimme food.”

  
  


Grillby smiled warmly, giving Death a soft chuckle, before standing up properly, continuing to cook. He let the skeleton taste some of the ingredients every once in a while, happy at the reactions he got out of him. He knew this was probably… a very flawed plan on many ways. But he felt comfortable with Death on his shoulders, and Death seemed happy, too. 

 

And at least he wasn’t eating raw onions anymore…

 

-

 

Hearth had let Reaper take the wheel, passing by Gaster and Papyrus, talking about something he really just didn’t care for. What he  _ did  _ care about was Sans at the moment, dragging him away this time so they could talk. “I can’t believe you actually cut Death! Did you even realize you didn’t give him any time to react at all! Good thing he thought quickly or you would have slashed his  _ head! _ ”

  
  


“i didn’ mean to!” Sans tried to defend himself, though really, his voice only sounded guilty. “i wan’ed to stop before it hit ‘im, i didn’t think- i underestimated it!”

 

He had thought Death would just dodge away, push him off, block his swipe. This was  _ Death _ after all, not just some random hooligan on the street! Sans hadn’t even thought he’d  _ ever _ be able to get a hit on Death until the very second there was his blood on Sans’ dagger.

 

_ But Death had seemed so proud of him, too! _

  
  


“Underestimated?! Really? You had him on his stomach!” Hearth laughed, like he couldn’t believe Sans even managed it. “Do you know how bodies even work Sans? He couldn’t just reach up and stop you, arms don’t bend that way, pushing you off would be to slow, it wouldn’t stop your swing! You gave him  _ zero  _ time to think when you brought him to the ground and then the swipe!”

 

“Sans! You had him  _ cornered! Cor-ner-ed! _ ” Hearth was laughing now, full blown laughing. “Holy shit, you got  _ Death  _ cornered!”

  
  


“tha’s exactly what i’m talkin’ about!” Sans squeaked out, not sure how he should feel about Hearth’s sudden laughter. But it did make him feel a little better. It made  _ him _ feel a little less cornered. “by the time i got the dagger i didn’ even process yet tha’  _ i _ had  _ death _ cornered! i didn’ even think that was a  _ thing _ !”

 

Sans pulled out the dagger from his shoe again, staring at it in slight wonder. He had wiped off the blood with his sleeve by now, though he still couldn’t believe he managed to take  _ this _ dagger out of  _ Death’s _ grip.  _ And _ swipe him with it.  _ Death. _

 

But that wasn’t really the important part about this.   
  
Sans quickly dropped the dagger as he let out a gasp, before both his hands reached for Hearth.

 

“ _ did you see how proud he was at me!? _ ” Sans gasped out, his eyes so wide in excitement they were almost sparkling.

  
  


“Lucky bastard, but he was about to give up on you! Almost! Oh boy, that’s how you got the drop on him! That really was amazing though! Sans, you landed a  _ hit! _ ” Hearth gushed, already reliving the moment he saw it again and again, it really was a great thing to watch again. Wow, he wished he could relive that and see it again.

 

He looked around to spot the pirate Captain, but didn’t see him besides Reaper. “Where is he anyway?”

  
  


“hm?” Sans asked surprised, his arms on Hearth’s shoulders letting loose, so he just dropped on the flame, head turning a little to look around. “‘dunno. inside? maybe ‘e’s fillin’ grillby in on what he missed.” Gaster had wanted to do the same with Sans earlier, though Papyrus had been quicker to tell their father about their own practice instead. Which was just fine by Sans, as he didn’t really care a lot about more practice anyways.

  
  


“Maybe  _ I _ should challenge Death to a sparring match, maybe I might get praised too?~” Hearth teased, getting up and jogging to the door that led under the deck, laughing all the way.

  
  


“wha-!?  _ no! _ ” Sans called after him, before quickly getting up as well and following the running flame. “tha’s not how it works! he  _ knows _ you’re good! aaah!” He ran after Hearth down under the deck, trying to catch up with him. 

  
  


But once he did, Hearth was at the bottom of the stairs, watching ahead of him with an unspoken shock. Grillby and Death looked so comfortable, not even questioning anything.

 

Death was currently whining on wanting to try the fish, which Grillby was saying no to, leading Death to wiggle around and whine some more, kicking his legs and reaching out to the fish longingly. “fiiiishhhh, noooooo!” 

 

It was like he was calling for his long lost love.

  
  


Sans ran into Hearth from behind roughly, only letting out a muffled,  _ “oof _ .” He pushed himself off the elemental, about to ask why he just stopped on the bottom of the stairs. Though he didn’t get to it, eyes already catching onto Grillby and Death.

 

“wha… wha’s goin’ on there?” Sans muttered out quietly.

  
  


“I don’t know…” Hearth muttered out just as quietly to Sans.

  
  


There was a moment of hesitation, before Sans started to walk towards them, hand pulling on Hearth’s clothes at first, like he was trying to pull him with him, before he eventually let go.

 

“so you two seem pretty chill,” Sans finally commented when he reached Death and Grillby, voice slightly wary as he didn’t know what to expect. “‘sup?”

 

Grillby looked to Sans surprised, also noticing Hearth at that point. “Oh. He’s helping me cook,” Grillby said, his voice casual.

  
  


“‘e won’ let me try it!” Death shouted, pointing at Grillby like they were in trouble and Death was putting the blame on Grillby. “‘m da captain, ya should follow my or’ders!!” He whined, already hitting Grillby’s head repeatedly like a child, thankfully his punches weren’t hard at all.

 

Hearth raised a brow at Death’s behavior, never having seen him  _ act  _ this way before. Don’t get him wrong, Death looked cute, but… he was sort of acting like a… spoiled child.

  
  


“As long as we’re in the kitchen, I’m the boss,” Grillby told him sternly, ignoring the punches to his head. “Unless you want to cook your own dinner.”   
  
Sans snorted at that, both Death’s spoiled behavior, but also the way Grillby shut him down coldly. He didn’t know those two were getting along like that.

 

“‘ow come only he gets th’ treats?” Sans asked, arms crossed, like he was jealous of that favoring. Grillby glanced at him surprised.

 

“Well, he actually came to the kitchen,” Grillby mused out, giving Sans a small smirk. “What, are you jealous?”   
  
“damn right, i am! i wan’ food!”   
  
“Well better hurry next time, I suppose,” the elemental simply cooed as he continued to cook. “I’m only really in need for one taste tester.”

  
  


Death scoffed, moving his upper body backwards until he was hanging from Grillby’s back, knees bent on the flame’s shoulders, before curling and spinning to his feet. After he was off Grillby, he went straight to the food crate. “since ya ain’ feedin’ me,” Death grabbed the first thing he got, which was another onion.

 

Why do they have a lot of onions?

 

And took a big bite out of it. 

 

“‘ll feed myself.”

  
  


“No, no, no,  _ no! _ ” Grillby said, quickly shoving the spoon into Sans’ hands, telling him to make sure the food won’t burn, before rushing to Death. “Don’t eat the ingredients, we’ll run out of onions at one point because of you!”

 

He picked Death up again, hands under Death’s arms as he lifted him up like a fat cat. “My kitchen! My rules!”   
  


 

“my ship, my rules!” Death shot back, biting into the onion again, showing it off to Grillby in mocking.

 

  
Sans meanwhile was conflicted on whether he should watch Grillby or stare at the spoon in his hand cluelessly. He found something better. There was still some food stuck on the spoon.

  
  


Hearth on the other hand took the spoon from Sans, not trusting skeletons anymore with food. They are all gremlins!

 

“No, bad Sans, you shouldn’t eat off the damn spoon, don’t get your drool all over something that touches everyone’s food!” He scolded the skeleton, lifting the spoon over Sans’ head to avoid the smaller monster trying to grab it.

  
  


Sans let out a small whine, only jumping once to try to grab the spoon. “bu’ death got to eat some!” He complained, before he saw Grillby coming back with Death in his hands.

 

“Thanks,” he muttered towards Hearth. “Can you take him and keep him out of my kitchen? He’s banned from dinner.”

  
  


Hearth took Death off Grillby’s hands without being told twice, handing back the spoon, cuddling the skeleton in his arms, who was eating his onion grouchily and frowning. “‘ll find my ways, ’ll never fer’get dis grillby, mark my words!” Death waved a fist at Grillby, like he was declaring war.

 

“an’ ‘earth wha da ‘ell ‘re ya doin’!?” Death turned to look at the flame cuddling him, he didn’t get a response, only be carried away to the deck, getting cooed and fawned over. “nooooo, stooooop!”

  
  


Sans watched the two leave curiously, before turning back to Grillby.

  
“so… y’re in need for a new taste tester?” The skeleton asked with a tone in his voice that already made it pretty obvious what he wanted. Grillby still gave him a surprised glance.

 

“Don’t wanna join up with the others?”   
  
“nah. ‘earth’s jus’ gonna be all over death an’ if i go up i run into th’ risk of ‘avin to listen to my dad’s gun practice recap.” Sans shrugged, before grinning up at Grillby. “plus i missed out on gettin’ to practice with you today! gotta catch up on lost time.”   
  
“...Is that so?” Grillby asked, still slightly surprised. He had thought that when Sans seemed to have had only eyes for Death, that that had been his ulterior motive, rather than getting to spend time with Grillby. But he really wouldn’t mind having Sans stay with him for a bit.

 

“Sure,” he finally said, kneeling down again for the next skeleton to climb on his shoulders, which Sans quickly and excitedly did.

 

-

 

By the time dinner was ready, Grillby brought it up for everyone, except Death. Who at some point wiggled his way out of Hearth’s hold and is now pouting in the crow’s nest. At least Death still wanted to keep his brother company, so up there he was, waiting for his brother to climb up.

 

Reaper on the other hand, noticed the portion Grillby gave him was more than the others, raising his bone brow at Grillby in question, he asked why is that.

  
  


“...I don’t want anyone to not eat enough,” was all Grillby muttered out. He wasn’t going to tell him that he banned Death from dinner, he’d find out soon enough. And he wasn’t going to tell him that he was expecting the Reaper brothers to just share once he  _ would _ find out.

 

Though it was easy enough to tell, at least for Sans, whom let out an obviously teasing and drawled out, “d’awww, you  _ caaare _ .”

 

“For a matter of fact, I do care about the crew I’m stuck on a boat with.”   
  
“you make it sound so charming,” Sans cooed back.

  
  


Reaper didn’t say any more, letting the two other’s bicker and climb the sail to Death, again, being careful not to spill. Once he did make it, he noticed Death didn’t have a plate, and was pouting. “WHERE’S YOUR FOOD?”

 

“grillby banned me from dinner…” Death huffed out, frown deepening.

 

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Reaper just sat down next to his brother, holding the plate between them as he started to pick at his food with his fingers.

 

“i…. wanted food….” Death mumbled, hand already going to the plate to pick off food as well.

 

Reaper only hummed, pulling his scarf down and kissing Death’s hooded skull, before he started to eat. Getting rewarded with Death leaning on him and resting his head on his arm, humming right back at him.

 

-

 

Though nothing stopped Death from getting food. During the night, Reaper and Death took shifts, Death takes the first few hours while Reaper rests, then they switch. This time Death watched more than his share, they will reach the island tomorrow and Reaper had to be rested, not tired out from half a night’s on watch.

 

So once Death was done, he woke up Reaper, who slept next to the wheel with him, and let him take the wheel. Death went down under the deck, where the rest of the ship would usually sleep and sneaked his way to the kitchen part of the floor. Carefully he opened one of the crates and marveled at the food he found, quickly, he started to stuff his face in, trying to keep as quiet as possible, especially the ones that crunch or pop when you bite into them.

  
  


Though apparently he hadn’t been quite quiet enough. Either that or Grillby simply had intense mom senses once it was about food and his kitchen. Though, to be fair, the faint steps of someone going under the deck had already slightly roused him.

 

He sat up from where he had slept slowly, rubbing his hands over his eyes to realize what was going on. Before he heard the quiet crunching noises through the silence on the ship.

 

“...Really?” He muttered out quietly, getting up to walk over to where they stored their food, finding Death practically buried in it. 

 

“Am not having any of that tonight…” He grumbled out, before picking up Death, uncaring if he was still eating on something or not, and going back to his spot where he slept. He knew exactly Death was just going back to the crates if he let him go to sleep. So he just didn’t. And instead lied down with Death still in his arms.

 

Really, any other day he would’ve tried to find an alternative. But it wasn’t even a day to begin with.

  
  


“wha, ey! ya can’ do dis ta me, ‘o ya t’ink ya ‘re?” Death wiggled in the flames hold, offended Grillby just laid down and took him with him.

 

Ugh. Now he was stuck in the flames hold, damn, and his tiredness is working against him! The betrayal! 

  
  


“Chef…” Was all Grillby muttered in reply to him, sounding like he was already almost asleep. Though his still pretty firm hold on Death showed that there was at least a good bit of consciousness left.

  
  


Death grumbled under his breath, growling. “but ‘m da captain!” He wasn’t graced with a response, instead silence.

 

“ugh!!”


	23. death needs people skills

“What. the. actual.  _ fuck _ ?!” Hearth said, staring at the two sleeping figures in front of him. Grillby had his arm around Death’s waist, holding him close. While death is passed out, legs and arms splayed everywhere.

 

Hearth went to Sans and shook him awake. “Sans, Sans! I think Grillby is racing with us! What the fuck dude, check this out!”

  
  


Sans let out a complaining groan, not having wanted to wake up until, like, in ten hours at least. “don’ careee,” he groaned sleepily. “jus’ lemme die here ‘s long ‘s i can sleep.” He didn’t hear what Hearth was saying to begin with, most likely thinking it was some kind of the boat was sinking emergency. Which he didn’t care about the least.

  
  


“Grillby is sleeping with  _ Death _ !!” Hearth hissed, pulling Sans up to his feet in one swift move, holding him up just in case he fell on his face. “Sans seriously,  _ wake up! _ ”

 

He pointed at the two, how close and peaceful they look, Death having a slight bit of blue drool going down his mouth, barely reaching his chin, with strange crumbs and smears all over his face.

  
  


“wha- _ ah! _ ” Sans gasped as he was suddenly pulled up, clinging to Hearth as he hadn’t quite had the time to wake up enough for balance. But he  _ was _ awake now, and he  _ was  _ looking at where Hearth pointed. And he  _ did _ see Grillby holding Death close, the two of them both asleep.

 

“wha’ the fuck…” Sans muttered, voice wary and… offended? His grip on Hearth only tightened. “the fuck ‘s goin’  _ on _ between those two!?”

  
  


Hearth went right up to them and slammed his foot on the floor, making Death jolt and take out his weapon in a second, tense and alert. He looked up and saw Hearth and Sans looking at them, serious and ready. “wha’ wrong!?”

 

Hearth motioned to him and Grillby, before crossing his arms, “This. You sleeping with Grillby!” He was acting like a mother catching their child in bed with someone, demanding answers.

 

“wha?” Death asked, confused. “is dat really why ya woke me?” Obviously annoyed by the lack of trouble and now being woken up.

  
  


Grillby, too, had woken up from their noise, frowning up at the other monster. “Had to stop him from stealing food,” he mumbled out tiredly, slightly grumpy.

 

“so you  _ slept _ with ‘im!?” Sans asked, not actually meaning to make it sound as shocked as he did. He just. Really didn’t know how to feel about this.

 

“Better than to stay awake all night…” Grillby replied, slowly sitting up. He had let go of Death by this point, though.

  
  


Death rolled away and flip, landing on his feet, he crossed his arms and pouted with his dirty face. “don’ see why yer so up da wall fer dis…” grumbling under his breath, already walking lazily to the crate he in last night to continue where he left off for breakfast. They were going to a island today so they can stock on supplies no problem.

 

He found the berry bag they stocked up on on the last island they were on. The one where they all got together…

 

He put half of those berries in his mouth in one go…

  
  


Grillby just let himself fall back on his back, both hands on his face as he let out a long groan. He shouldn’t have let go of Death…

 

“Really, though,” he groaned through both of his palms, though his voice slightly low now. “You’re fine, you can still claim your prize. I just needed him to stop wasting resources…”

 

It didn’t  _ look _ like he  _ just _ wanted to stop Death. And Sans… really wasn’t sure about how to feel about that.

  
  


Reaper walked down the steps from the deck, calling out to everyone that they were at the island.

 

Reaper took one look at Death and sighed, “BROTHER. NO MORE.” He said, before walking up the stairs without saying anymore.

 

Death moved away from the crate in an instant, chirping out a quick, “kay!” and following his brother up. Hearth snorted into his hand and looked at Grillby like he just got trumped.

  
  


Grillby simply groaned even more into his palms, but started to get up and ready, also waking up the others, informing them they arrived at the island.

 

Sans, too, started to get himself ready, making sure he had both the dagger and pistol on him. Though as soon as he was done, he seemed to stick to Hearth. Wordlessly, not actually making a big deal out of it, though… still noticeably.

  
  


One by one the crew went up to the deck, meeting Death and Reaper, who were setting anchor at a really serene and quiet spot. Reaper had the map, and was talking excitedly to his brother, leaning in to show him the map while his brother would add bits here and there.

 

“should i be da one ta do dat den?” Death asked, looking up at his brother.

 

“YOU SHOULD, YOU ARE MORE AGILE AND ACCURATE WITH YOUR SMALL BODY, IT WOULD BE PERFECT.”

 

“‘d do be’der if blindfolded…”

 

“SHOULD I BRING A CLOTH?”

 

Hearth walked up to both of them, raising his brow at the little he heard from the conversation. “So, treasure time?”

 

“INDEED!” Reaper stood tall beaming. “TELL GRILLBY TO PACK AWAY FEW SMALL THINGS TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST, JUST IN CASE WE DON’T FIND SOME.” It wouldn’t be great to start of hungry with no food around them in the wilderness. 

 

“You got it, Captain.” Hearth nodded, heading to said flame.

  
  


Grillby gave the other elemental a nod as he already began packing enough for everyone, having already expected he’d have to bring some.

 

Papyrus had rushed up the deck as soon as he had figured out a way to carry his weapon with him, having ended up with attaching them to his belt. 

 

“DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE’RE GOING???” Papyrus asked curiously as he approached the two captains, not peeking over the map, though he was curious to. He remembered hearing about the treasure, though the exact location escaped him.

  
  


“THE TREASURE IS UNDERGROUND, AND THE ENTRANCE IS BOOBIE TRAPPED, DEATH WILL HANDLE IT WHEN IT COMES. FOR NOW, WE SHOULD FIND THE….” Reaper looked at the map again, reading off the vague riddles.

 

“tun’el.” Death reminded next to him.

 

“TUNNEL! LET’S GOOOO!” Reaper pumped his fist in the air and looked at the rest of the crew.

 

-

 

They all got off the boat and headed east, Reaper at the very front, Papyrus and Gaster next to him, discussing the clues and what they would mean, and if they read it right. More eyes on riddles mean the likelier that they would get it right. Hearth, Grillby and Sans were more towards the back, mostly following. Death would wander, something catches his eye and he would explore, then come back, thankfully he never strayed too far.

  
  


“didn’ think riddle treasures were real,” Sans admitted to the two elementals. “always thought they were like. a tale for children.”

 

“I suppose there’s some truth to every tale,” Grillby mused, though he was surprised, too. Maybe the riddles were made by someone  _ inspired  _ by said tales. Or maybe that was just their way of a security system. Can’t exactly have someone guard it for eternity. “I just hope it doesn’t end up being a hoax. I don’t think the captains would be too happy about that.”   
  
“don’ think any a us would be.”

  
  


“What do you think the treasure is? Gold? Gear, dude we could use gear! Or other stuff!” Hearth didn’t know much treasure besides gold, you know, the thing everyone is always striving for. He would think on many adventures you would collect gear and clothing that showed you off, each new piece is a memory and a momento to what you did. Hearth can’t wait to be covered in cool stuff, a better coat, some gold stuff like rings and a cool hat.

 

That sounded so cool!

  
  


“do we need gold as pirates?” Sans questioned genuinely. “do we buy things? think i’d rather have some gear.”

 

“It sounds like it would be something of high importance, if they went through the effort of making those puzzles,” Grillby noted. “Maybe some kind of holy artifact.”   
  


“boo. lame.” Sans didn’t know what they would do with a stolen holy artifact except piss off people or sell it. And again - did they even  _ buy _ things as pirates? Did they need money?

  
  


They started to enter a forest, all of them were sticking closer to each other for the time being. Death got so into the jungle that he started to swing on vines over their heads, going from one to another. Reaper had at one point told him to get down, only for his brother not to listen. Reaper didn’t even react when one of the vines Death had grabbed onto broke and made him fall.

 

Reaper didn’t even bother when his brother slammed back onto the earth, face first. “I WOULD SAY I TOLD YOU SO, BUT YOU MUST ALREADY KNOW.” Reaper mused, already going ahead without a second thought. 

 

Death decided to stay where he is. This is his home now.

  
  


Sans stopped once he passed the skeleton on the ground, crouching down to him.

 

“you alive?” He asked, picking up a stick on the ground to poke onto Death. Only for Grillby to take the stick out of his hand.

  
“Sans, don’t play with corpses, it’s unsanitary.”

  
  


“don’ sleep tanigh’, ya’d regret it, gribbs.” Death warned, face still in the dirt.

 

The rest of the group were starting to go farther ahead, no one noticed.

 

“Ooohhh~ Grillby, Captain ‘s going after you!” Hearth wavered his voice to make it sound more haunted and ghosty.

  
  


“Are you threatening me?” Grillby asked quirking a brow at Death. “Don’t forget that I have access to your food, captain.”

 

“oof, ‘e’s right,” Sans uttered out. “better watch out, or ‘e might just poison you.”   
  
Grillby glanced at Sans surprised, not exactly having thought of something as extreme, but it worked. “Don’t pick a fight with your cook.”

  
  


“can ‘lways t’row ya off da ship, ya ‘lready gave me a reason with cuttin’ off ‘ow much i eat normally. ta many strikes an’ yer a goner~” Death almost sang, lifting his head just enough to so his face wasn’t face first in dirt, instead he laid his chin on the ground, looking at Sans’ feet.

 

“You’re going to throw him overboard?” Hearth asked, crouching down to look at Death’s face, well, as much as he can see of his face.

 

Death grinned, “don’ fer’get dat it’  _ my  _ crew,  _ my  _ ship.” Death looked at Grillby. “don’ pick a figh’ with yer captain.”

  
  


“oof, capt’n, don’t’cha think y’re goin’ a little  _ overboard _ with that?” Sans asked, completely and absolutely unable to keep himself from smiling.

  
  


Death giggled softly at the pun, finally lifting himself up, “i ‘ope ya all didn’ fer’get ‘o yer talkin’ ta~” Death was aiming this at all of them, not just Grillby or even Sans. “‘m still one a’ da reaper bra’ders! dat  _ killin’ machine _ ya called me one time, ‘ight?” Death asked, looking towards Sans, referring to that one time when they were talking to Papyrus and Sans made that little comment Death pretended to ignore.

 

“‘m.  _ not _ . gonna be pushed ‘round by my own crew. only know i only let ya, but  _ never  _ t’ink ya ‘ave da upper ‘and with  _ me _ .” Death laughed, standing back up. Yes, he wasn’t planning to kill his crew, but he still isn’t going to be treated less of or betrayed. He isn’t a push over and being in their presence for so long without reminding them who he was has really started making them forget he  _ was  _ dangerous.

  
  


Sans didn’t reply, regretting having used those words around the pirate before. Though Grillby stayed quiet as well. It was true. They weren’t just growing comfortable, they were  _ forgetting _ . Were ignoring. But in the end, Death was still the same monster that had murdered Hearth’s entire crew. That had covered Gaster’s ship in horrifying gore.

 

“Right… Captain,” Grillby muttered out subdued.

 

Sans followed his captain to stand upright again, eyes pinned to the ground, usure if he should add something himself. He didn’t.

  
  


Hearth only nodded, remembering what this monster had done, yet it was hard to see him in the same light.

 

“now den, le-......” Death looked around, trying to spot his brother, or hell, even Gaster and Papyrus. But finding no one. “shit.”

 

Where were they headed? Did Death even remember the first riddle? He saw the map! But…

 

He wasn’t the one leading…

 

“bro…?” Death asked, a bit quieter than his normally quiet voice was, thinking maybe his brother was just hiding and waiting for him to panic then jump out laughing ‘THAT’S WHAT YOU GET’.

 

Hearth looked around as well, noticing the lack in half the crew. “Oh.”

  
  


Sans had picked up the feeling of being lost quicker than he had realized they were separated from the rest of the crew, already looking around with big eyes. Though he tried not to panic, he was clearly distressed, his chuckle too high and his words to quick.

  
“y’ know where to go, right? we’ll just catch ‘em there!”   
  
Grillby, however was less convinced Death actually knew where to go and was trying to find some way to track them instead, silently, absently, while the others could try to figure something out themselves.

  
  


“‘ow should i know?!” Death fired back, stressed.

 

“Your the captain.” Hearth reminded.

 

“shit.” Death whispered while looking at the ground in silent resignation, he regretted a lot of things right now. Instead of just wallowing about it, he was actually going to try and find them, though he doesn’t know where he is going or which direction they have gone, he was going to try.

 

Hearth followed Death, he was the captain after all. Hopefully either the others or Death manages to find eachother, or find where they need to go and meet there.

  
  
  


Grillby was surprised Death was just walking somewhere, though he followed him as well. The ground was covered in too much growth for the others to have left any footprints, and there didn’t seem to be anything else noticeable either. So following his captain was most likely the best idea.

 

Though Sans seemed less excited about it, sticking very close to the elementals, like he was scared of getting separated from  _ them _ as well.

 

“d’ you have any idea where y’re goin’...” Sans muttered out, trying not to sound as worried as he was. But he was worried. Oh, was he worried. The jungle was large and basically worse than every labyrinth. And  _ Papyrus _ was with the others. He couldn’t lose Papyrus  _ again. _ He  _ promised _ to never leave him alone again.

  
  


Death decided not to grace that with a response, having Sans be delirious with blind worry that he would mindlessly go into things wasn’t what they needed right now. “stay calm, not like we gonna die out ‘ere, jus’ a set back.” And it was the truth, they weren’t going to die, no one was. The group each have a Reaper brother, so defending themselves from predators wasn’t a problem, and if it got too late, they could go to the ship. It wasn’t so hard to climb a tree and look for a shore line, or their crow’s nest and flag.

 

Hearth nodded, seeming more sure. “Right, not like we won’t see them again.” 

  
  


“...Are you okay?” Grillby asked Sans, tone quiet.

 

Sans glanced away, to the ground, not giving him an exact answer. Not wanting to admit that he was, in fact, not fine.

 

“...don’ know where papy is,” he said, though, which was enough for an answer for Grillby.

 

“Papyrus will be fine,” he assured him. “He’s with Reaper and Gaster.”

 

“bu’ not with  _ me. _ ” And if  _ anything _ were to happen because Sans wasn’t there, if Papyrus would get lost or fall or attacked and the others weren’t able to protect them… He promised to never leave Papyrus again for a damn  _ reason _ after all.

  
  


Not like you can do anything.

 

Death rolled his eyes, already tired of Sans’ emotional speel. This dude is acting like just being there will make things better, he is acting like it’s the end of the world if he isn’t. Really, Sans is really annoying when Papyrus isn’t there to keep his emotional state in check, like come on, do you really need a kid to keep you sane and thinking right?

 

Death swears Papyrus is a loose screw that falls from Sans’ brain that stops all rational and logical thinking and just worry like a mother hen. If that was Reaper, he would be insulted at the lack of trust he has for him and the crew with him.

 

It is taking a lot not to try slapping Sans back to reality. 

 

Sometimes it looks like Sans needs Papyrus more than Papyrus needs Sans...

 

“Reaper! Gaster!!” Hearth called into the forest, “Papyrus!” the flame cupped his hands to make his voice carry, sound louder, anything for the rest of the crew to hear his cry in case they were actually very close.

  
  


But there came no response. 

 

Sans was growing more and more nervous the longer they spent wandering aimlessly, and it showed. He wasn’t saying anything per-say, but his hands were fidgeting, was calling out for Papyrus more and more often.

 

But they weren’t finding them. They didn’t know where the others were at all. Had they already entered the tunnel? Were they in trouble? Had they noticed the others were missing and were looking for them?

 

“ _ papyrus! _ ” Sans cried out once more.

  
  


Death had just about had enough, turning swiftly and grabbing his chain and scythes out, he didn’t use the scythes, but he maneuvered them in his hands to throw the chain around Sans a few time over, then  _ pull _ .

 

Sans came flying at him, only stopping right in front of Death, but before anyone could even react, Death smoothly raised his hand and slapped Sans across the face. Death was frowning deeply at the skeleton, forcing Sans on his knees so Death could look down on him.

 

“pat’etic. stop actin’ like a cry baby every time yer bra’der is not with ya, da ya really t’ink dats wha paps wan’s? when ‘e was  _ my  _ captive, ‘e was strong with ‘is ‘ead ‘eld ‘igh, ‘e never moped er even showed any negativity, ‘ell, that was da reason ‘e didn’ get  _ killed _ !” Death glared down at the skeleton, disapproval coming off of him in waves.

 

“it looks more dat  _ you  _ need paps more dan ‘e needs  _ ya _ . if ya really cared, den ya would put more  _ trust  _ in ‘em an’ da o’ders dats with ‘em, don’ insult dem by worryin’. if ya wanna do somet’in’ fer ‘em den get up, keep ya ‘ead ‘igh an’ march on. t’ink of ‘em, do it fer ‘em, be strong fer ‘em. yer no use ta ‘em like  _ dis _ . at least paps knows dis an’ would do dis fer ya.” Death scolded, letting his chains unwrap around the skeleton, again turning swiftly, and continuing on their search. 

  
  


Sans was shaking. Even though Death had let go of him again, he was still on his knees, shaking. Arms crossed, frowning down at the ground as he tried to keep himself together.

 

He could hear voices, but they were muffled in his ears, the only thing really reaching Sans being when Grillby tried to reach for him. Sans flinched away for a moment, before getting up, arms still crossed defensively.

 

“‘m fine,” he muttered to whoever would hear him.

 

He was not fine.

  
  


Hearth looked from Sans to Death, his eyes wide and curious. Damn, that was a lot harsher than he needed to be, but Hearth saw through it. At first Hearth just thought Death was scolding Sans just because he was irritated by his behavior, but when Death said ‘be strong fer ‘em’ Hearth saw what Death actually meant. He listened closely and rethought over Death’s words. Yes, the words are harsh, but the meaning behind it was advice, encouragement. 

 

Death was trying to help in his own way, but he took bluntness to a whole new level and said what Sans probably didn’t want to hear.

 

Shit.

 

Hearth looked back down at Sans, taking a few steps and seeing if the skeleton followed. They wouldn’t want to lose Death in the jungle too…

  
  


Sans was following the noise of steps and fire, not looking up enough to actually see the others. But he was following either way.

 

Grillby still hang back a little to walk behind Sans, making sure he wouldn’t get off track. He tried asking him if he was okay, tried talking to him, but Sans was unresponsive, closed off now, only muttering out a quiet, yet stressed, “‘m fine, lemme  _ be, _ ” when Grillby bothered him enough.

 

Though he seemed far from fine, bones still shaking, his steps small, slowing him down. Grillby let out a tense sigh, not wanting them to fall behind too much, but picking Sans’ up also seemed like a bad idea right now.

  
  


Hearth looked at Sans then back at Death, figuring maybe the person that did this can maybe help fix it. He walked next to Death and whispered to the skeleton, making Death stop and look back. 

 

“But be gentler on him, or than… this…” Hearth added, making Death groan lightly, moving back to the skeleton. Hearth watch on nervously as Death walked back to Sans and grabbed his hand, pulling him closer.

 

“ey, dis is da exact opposite i told ya ta do.” Death pointed out, making Hearth facepalm. “‘earth said i was to ‘arsh, but ‘ow else ya gonna see yer not ‘elpin’ by bein’ dis way?”

  
  


Sans’ eyes were small, but frightened when he looked up to face Death, struggling for a moment until he pulled his hand free. He took a step back, arms pulled close.

 

“ _ sorry, _ ” he uttered out, but his tone was defensive and tense. 

  
  


Death looked at Hearth, his face strained, Hearth nodding at him to go on, even making little shooing gestures to help him. Death made a face and looked back at Sans, not really happy, but who is here?

 

“...m..e… to..o…” He struggled to say, Death was glad Sans said sorry first, because it would have been a lot harder for him to say that word than those two other words. He doesn’t even know what he was even apologizing for, hurting Sans’ feelings? He didn’t care if he hurt his feelings if it got the point across. Being to harsh? How else was he going to get it through his head?

 

Fuck.

 

He really hoped Sans appreciated this, Death hasn’t apologized to  _ anyone  _ for as long as he could remember. At least not counting the times he and his brother were sorry but did things to say them then actually say it.

  
  


Sans was taken aback, not having expected him to apologize back. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Wasn’t sure if Death was genuine, or just saying it to get Sans moving. But he gave him a small nod, before continuing to walk past Death into whichever direction he had headed before.

 

He still wasn’t very responsive, though he wasn’t slouching behind anymore, mostly hoping that they would leave him be now.

  
Grillby followed up with a tense sigh.

  
  


Death doubled that sigh, turning to continue on their walk, punching Hearth’s leg when he saw him smiling his way.


	24. in which death shows off

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” Before everyone could react, and Death only had time to move, Reaper came at them like a bullet with limbs flying. Crashing into Death and knocking him to the ground. “YOU IDIOT, LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!”

 

“aaaaaaa!” Death screamed blandy, like he was getting mauled by something and didn’t care or put much effort into it. 

 

Papyrus and Gaster came right behind him.

  
  


“BROTHER!!!” Papyrus called excitedly, already running up to Sans, who seemed startled, but opened his arms quickly to catch Papyrus in an embrace. “ARE YOU OKAY??? I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU!”

 

That got a small chuckle out of Sans, the older brother burying his face in Papyrus’ shoulder. “yea?” He blubbered out, his voice still quieter than usually, but oh so relieved. “was worried, too. god, ‘m glad to see you. got scared.” The latter part was even quieter, only for Papyrus to hear.

  
Papyrus decided to match it. “Are you alright, brother?” He asked, tone worried.

 

“‘dunno. probably,” was all Sans could reply, before Gaster approached them as well, joining into the hug.

 

“Don’t get lost again!” He chided, though he clearly was just as relieved as everyone else. 

  
  


“YES, NOW WE ARE BEHIND, THAT’S GREAT! PERFECT EVEN!” Reaper said sarcastically, making Death roll his eyes. “NOW LET’S ACTUALLY GO!”

 

-

 

And they did, they finally did. Reaper had led them all back to the tunnel they found, only noticing the others were gone when Reaper called for his brother to go through the tunnel like planned.

 

It really was a tunnel, carved into the mountain and dimly lit from the sun, being able to see the little designs on the walls and floor. It looked old, old and abandoned, with skeletons and dust through the tunnel, clear that others have died before they came, leaving their story up to the next poor souls that come through.

 

“DON’T GO IN, WE ALREADY HAVE A WAY OF DEALING WITH THIS, GOT IT?” Reaper looked back at all of them, more stern than before. Was he still angry the others got lost? Or is it the tunnel?

  
  


“AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!!!” Papyrus replied quickly, Sans and Gaster sticking close to him, being just as content to stay out of that tunnel. Only Grillby was slightly skeptical.

 

“Should maybe Hearth or me come?” He offered, though clearly making it only a suggestion. “As a light source?”

  
  


“NO NO, WE ARE ALL GOING! DEATH IS JUST GOING TO MAKE A WAY FOR US!” Reaper chirped, grabbing a white cloth from his pocket. “YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT TO DO, YES?” He turned to his brother, seeing him nod.

 

Death walked into the tunnel, keeping his focus on the ground, looking for any signs of…

 

“d’ere.” Death pointed, he pointed at one of the blocks making the stone tile floor, noticing that the line between that certain block didn’t have much cobwebs than the others, and it looked more deep, like it moved at some point.

 

A trap.

 

“IS THERE MORE UP AHEAD?” Reaper called, making Death look ahead, frowning. 

 

“don’ t’ink so. but da entrance is blocked.” The entrance was blocked. At the very end of the tunnel, stood a door, yet it was closed.

 

“THE MAP SAYS IT WOULD OPEN IF WE SET IT IN MOTION, THAT MEANS WE  _ HAVE  _ TO TRIGGER THE TRAP. EVERYONE, WHEN WE ALL PASS, DO NOT STEP IN  _ THAT  _ SQUARE, ONLY THEN WE CAN PASS.” Reaper had pointed at the block Death had pointed out before.

 

Hearth nodded in agreement.

 

Reaper looked back at Death and gave him a nod. Death went to the square and stepped on it, quickly throwing himself out the tunnel soon after. Narrowly avoiding arrows flying from the walls, through little holes in the walls, some hit the dead bodies, most just hit the wall and fell to the ground.

 

Death watched intensely, mesmerizing all he could, also noticing that the door indeed  _ had  _ opened, and the door was slowly going down, slowly closing the exit once again. Just as Death predicted, the attack stopped once the door closed completely.

 

The smaller captain had mostly looked at the walls, trying to see a pattern in where the arrows shoot out from, and he had, it was quite a simple pattern, but it was efficient to unsuspecting pirates.

  
  


Gaster let out a startled gasp, though he trusted that the pirates knew what they were doing. The noise and amount of arrows shooting from wall to wall having been the thing to startle him. Though he couldn’t quite tell what the Reaper brothers were trying to do, either.

 

“What… exactly is the plan, if I may ask?” He asked Reaper.

  
  


Reaper grinned, though Gaster couldn’t see it, Reaper was excited.

 

“READY BROTHER?” Reaper called, handing the cloth to him.

 

“yup.” Death took the cloth, hands going behind his hood to tie the knot behind his head, then take his coat off. He was blindfolded, “‘m ready.”

 

Death walked into the tunnel, getting down behind the trap switch, he reached a hand in front of him to hover his hand over the switch. “‘s it ‘ere?” He asked, getting a confirmation from his brother.

 

Death nodded, got in a ready position, and slammed the switch as he bolted. Sight can dull your hearing when you rely on it to much, that’s why having it taken away can really sharpen up what you hear. Like the distant ‘swish’ sound of a arrow coming at you, or the almost silent gears in the walls getting ready for the next arrow. Of course mesmerizing the pattern on the walls helped a whole bunch, letting Death have some leeway as he jumped and twisted to avoid the arrows.

 

He could hear it, the door, the rock sliding against rock, Death didn’t focus on it to much, only the sound of the arrows and gears. Only once he got close to the door, Reaper let out a yell to let him know, and Death quickly moved to be under the door, pull his hands up and keep the door in place.

 

It was too much weight for him, it was too much and he wasn’t as strong as his brother, so he summoned his huge scythe to take the weight of the falling door, letting him breathe. After a few more seconds, right when the door  _ should  _ have closed if Death wasn’t in the way, the arrows stopped.

 

Death heard Reaper cheer in success. 

 

“ALRIGHT EVERYONE,  _ DON’T  _ STEP ON THE SWITCH, WE CAN PASS.” Reaper stayed over the switch just in case, both feet on each side of the switch, to protect it from the others.

  
  


“Can you hold it long enough?” Grillby called over slightly worried, but he was already gesturing everyone else to rush into the tunnel, Papyrus swiftly picking up Sans to be quicker. Grillby followed up last to make sure no one was falling behind.

 

And it was a good thing for him to do, because he had to move Gaster to go on several times, the inventor not rarely getting distracted by the structure of the tunnel, the holes where the arrows shot out, trying to analyze how the mechanism might’ve been built.

  
  


“ya be’der move yer ass ‘venter er ya’ll regret it!” Death called from the end of the tunnel, growling at him. He was literally holding up a door and Gaster decided to take his sweet time getting over here. He can’t hold this up forever!!

 

Reaper finally left the switch to hurry after them.

  
  


“R-Right!” Gaster replied, only to feel the gentle shove of Grillby still hurrying him. “My apologies!”

 

They both hurried after the others, rushing through the small opening of the door Death was keeping open for them. Sans tried to help Death as soon as he was in reach, using his magic to light the weight of the door a little, though he couldn’t keep that up forever either.

  
  


Once everyone was through, and Reaper slided past Death, hooking his arm around the skeleton’s waist, pulling him into the door with him, the door closed, the scythe disappearing in a burst of magic.

 

Reaper stayed like that for a moment, looking everything over if everything was there, everyone. Once he saw everyone went through, and the plan worked, he cheered, getting up and passing his crew while letting go of Death.

 

“WE DID IT YET AGAIN BROTHER!!” Reaper cheered.

 

“dats why we’re da best!” Death sang, both his fist flying to the air in victory.

 

“WE ARE!!”

 

Hearth looked at them both with wide eyes, “That was crazy!!” His old crew and other soldiers wouldn’t do something as crazy as this, wouldn’t even dream of it!!

 

Death turned around, shrugging, though he was turned to them in general not to Hearth. His voice echoed and messing with Death’s hearing.

  
  


Papyrus let out an excited, “WOOH!” Raising both his fists in the air excitedly and filled with adrenaline.

 

“Is everyone okay?” Grillby asked, glancing over their little group, though no one seemed hurt. A little startled maybe, but otherwise unharmed.

 

“don’ think we’re done yet, though,” Sans muttered out, glancing ahead into the follow up tunnel. “betcha there’ll be more traps ahead.”   
  
“NATURALLY!!! OTHERWISE THIS WOULDN’T BE A CHALLENGE!!!”

  
  


“NOPE IT WILL NOT!!” Reaper said.

 

-

 

Most of the puzzles and riddles were pretty generic and easy to think up a plan, but some were really hard and made you scratch your head in thought. At some point the tunnels ended, going into a opening where greenery grew, it wasn’t that big, it was dome shaped, would fit two Reaper boats in size. There was running water being dropped from the outside, with light coming through, yet no one can pinpoint where and how.

 

They decided to rest here, and hey, there were running clear water and pretty flowers. A little break for them all. They can also eat the food Grillby had packed for them all!

  
  


“i ‘dunno, guys, tha’ doesn’ look good,” Sans muttered out warily. “don’ trust this…”   
  
“We have to take a break at  _ some _ point,” Grillby pointed out. “I’ll take this over the arrow tunnel.”   
  
“I’M SURE REAPER AND DEATH KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING!!!” Papyrus assured his brother, before the young skeleton threw himself into the soft grass, enjoying the change of scenery. 

 

“...if y’ say so…” Sans muttered, though nothing could convince him that there wasn’t some kind of catch. A trigger to drop a cage on them? Hidden ant hills? The water sources flood and drown them?

 

He didn’t have anywhere to go without them, though, so Sans had no other choice but to stay…

  
  


“sans is ‘ight d’ough.” Death called, digging into Grillby’s bag, hitting Reaper so he could finish his thought while he goes for food.

 

Reaper only sighed, “YES, REST, BUT BE WARY, THIS CAN ALSO BE A TEST.” Hearth nodding in agreement, biting his apple and sitting next to Sans. Nudging Sans’ shoulder to tell him he is beside him.

 

“Hey, so where do you think the water is coming from? You think it’s clean?” He watched the water flow from little cracks in the dome shaped place, yet no opening other than that. Where is the light coming from?

  
  


“wouldn’t try my luck,” Sans replied. Though he might be a bit unfair. “would probably be clean any other time. bu’ i don’t trust all a this.”

 

“Pappy, be careful. Don’t touch that,” Gaster warned as he watched his son about to cup his hands under the running water, before he glanced back with guilty eyes.

 

“AWWW, OKAY,” he said with a small pout, before joining the others again, getting an apple from his father.

  
  


Death tried to make himself comfortable on Reaper’s lap, but finding himself to feel weird in any position he was in, even getting up to lean his back onto his brother instead. “ughh.” He was so tired, he just wanted a nap, Reaper would protect him if anything happened. He was just… so tired. from him and Reaper mostly leading everyone and having to hold up that door, he felt like led.

 

“SOMETHING WRONG BROTHER?” Death looked up to his brother, for a second seeing two.

 

“not sure…”

 

Reaper didn’t like that answer.

  
  


"wha’s wrong?” Sans asked, though he quickly stopped caring about an answer. He could feel his throat clam up, a surge of anxiety overcoming him for a split moment. He couldn’t even explain why. Couldn’t explain what was going on. It wasn’t like he got scared, like he got started, but like something touched a nerve in his brain directly. 

 

He tore off one of his sleeves quickly, tying the fabric around his mouth and nose. His head felt fuzzy. Cloudy.

 

“BROTHER??? ARE YOU OKAY?” Papyrus asked at the sudden action. Sans glanced at him, eyes slightly droopy as he rubbed his skull.

 

“‘dunno,” he muttered out, voice muffled through the fabric. “somethin’s wrong, maybe y’ should-”

  
  


There was a scream, panicked and shocked, Death was scrambling away from Reaper at a fast pace. Reaper looked like he didn’t know what to do, trying to inch towards his brother with his hands up in surrender, but it didn’t seem to work.

 

“n-no! no more!” Death yelled at him, making Reaper pause in shock. “no more, it ‘urts! yer touchs  _ ‘urt _ !”

 

Reaper heard his brother say those words before, and it wasn’t to him, never to him. Only to  _ one  _ person he ever said that to, in the early years when they didn’t learn to keep quiet yet.

 

“BROTHER…” Reaper tried to control himself, “ _ HE  _ ISN’T HERE.” He tried to reach out again.

 

Only to make Death scream in terror and move away, his hands flying to cover between his legs. “ _ no _ ! noooo! don’ touch me! don’  _ touch me _ !!!” The words and actions making Reaper shake, his hands going to fists, this was hard to see.

  
  


“Wh...What’s going on…?” Grillby asked warily, worried. Though the words, the actions, it didn’t take long for it to ring a bell. For him to remember captain Meisters words. But why? Why was he having those reactions now? Why was he acting this way?

 

There was another scream, a yelp, this time from Papyrus, as he got tackled by his brother, Sans holding both hands over Papyrus’ mouth. Only for Papyrus to shove them away.

 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING???” He asked, holding both of Sans’ wrists his hand.

 

“ _ don’ breathe! _ ” Sans hissed out, but the only reaction Sans got was a puzzled look, followed by Papyrus rubbing his hand over his skull.   
  
“...WHAT?”

 

“don’-! just-!  _ ugh! _ ” He tried to struggle out of Papyrus’ hold to do something, the taller skeleton finally letting him go to put both his hands on his skull, bending down like he was getting a headache. “we gotta get  _ outta _ here!” Sans screeched panicked.

  
  


“BROTHER, BROTHER PLEASE!” Reaper had no choice, he grabbed his brother and held him tight, keeping his face in his chest so Death’s screams of bloody murder can’t be heard in it’s fullest. “WE HAVE TO LEAVE INDEED!!”

 

Hearth looked like he wanted to go to two places at once, but then just started to look around. “Where is the next door?!” He tried not to get his hopes up when he saw where they came from, and looked around for another door, but not really seeing it.

  
  


Sans was looking around frantically, trying to keep his breathing to a minimum. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he could hear the muffled screaming from Death, Papyrus didn’t look very well either. They had to find an exit, but aside from the door they came from, the walls all seemed to be covered in growth.

 

“pops, can you go che-”

 

“No, no, no, no, no-” Gaster’s voice was high and frantic, eyes wide and wild, staring at nothing, yet very focusedly so. Like he was seeing something they couldn’t see. And before Sans or any of them could react, he broke into a shrill scream, quickly followed by Gaster bending down and throwing up.

 

“ _ DAD! _ ” Papyrus called after him, though he wavered as he tried to move to reach out for him, quickly stopping again to hold his own skull, letting out a pained grunt.

  
  


Reaper quickly picked up Death, ignoring the kicking and screaming as best he could, looking around frantically. Only when Hearth pointed out something gleaming behind certain vines on the other side of the dome shaped hell.

 

Reaper quickly started to march his way towards it, speed walking. Hearth went to Gaster and quickly and as carefully as he could, lift him up. “Gaster, we have to go.”

  
  


Gaster was hyperventilating, only screaming even more when the other monster picked him up, like he was about to get murdered.

 

“c’mon, le’s go,” Sans said to the others, though Papyrus was still struggling, on his knees on the ground. Grillby didn’t look much better either, his eyes wide, body shaking as he was bent over. He looked like he was about to collapse.

 

“can y’ walk?” Sans asked, trying to keep calm, but his voice was panicked. He couldn’t carry them!

 

“N...No,” Grillby breathed out, a hand on his head, voice sounding hoarse and weak. “F...Fuck, what’s going-...  _ Fuck… _ ” His head felt fuzzy, his vision  _ there _ , yet he felt like he couldn’t see. Like he was fading in and out of sleep. In and out of a nightmare no less. 

 

 _He was safe,_ Grillby tried to remind himself. _He wasn’t going back anymore._ _He wasn’t in any trouble._ Yet he felt like they were here. Every time he tried to look up, tried to focus, he saw his mother. He couldn’t move anymore. He felt nauseous, dizzy.

 

Papyrus pushed himself off the ground, legs weak, but standing. Walking. And he put his arms on Grillby, lifting him off the ground.

  
“HELP ME OUT,” Papyrus croaked out, his eyes scrunched shut. Sans gave him a quick nod, before using his magic to lighten some of the weight. Papyrus didn’t seem to know where he was going, so Sans quickly hurried to him, a hand on his brother’s arm to guide him to the exit.

  
  


They all went to where Hearth had pointed at, Reaper tearing at the vines until he saw a door, pushing it open, he called for the rest of them that he found it. Going in with his brother as well. 

 

Once everyone else came through, Reaper slammed the door closed, blocking the gas that was affecting them so much from coming to them anymore. They all sunk to the floor, Reaper still holding a screaming Death, he was sure he felt his chest get wet, and his soul hurt.

 

Hearth placed Gaster on the ground, before helping getting Grillby off of Papyrus and setting him down as well before he to, flopped to the floor.

  
  


Gaster had stopped screaming, though he still didn’t look alright. His eyes were still wide, still staring at nothing in particular, tears running down his face.

 

Papyrus himself had run off as soon as Grillby was off him, only a few feet, throwing up himself as he began to sob quietly. Sans approached him - no - followed him as quick as possible, a hand gently stroking over Papyrus’ back. Though he didn’t talk, not for now.

 

Grillby himself didn’t move. He felt as if, when he moved, things would only get worse. He stayed on the ground, hands on his head, trying to focus on staying sane. Trying to focus on his breathing. 

  
  


“Grillby, it’s me Hearth. You’re doing so good, why not listen to my voice, okay?” Hearth kneeled in front of Grillby, since he couldn’t really help the others personally like he could Grillby, since he was a part of his life when Grillby was living with his family.

 

“How you doing Grillby, I’m happy we’re together, aren’t you? Best buds, for life!” Hearth laughed lightly, a hand rest on Grillby’s foot, stroking it softly.

  
  


Grillby tried to talk back to Hearth, though felt like he couldn’t, the words turning more into a pained groan. But he could hear him. He could hear Hearth’s voice, could focus on it. Could use it as an anchor, keep him in reality. Drive away whatever was haunting his head.

 

It took a good few minutes, maybe ten, though to Grillby it felt like an hour easily. His head didn’t feel quite as clogged anymore. Not good, but better. Like he could move again. And he tested so by raising his hand, forming it into a fist. Before he slammed it to the ground, crying out a loud, frustrated, “ _ Fuck! _ ”

 

He stayed like that for another short moment, feeling the rubble, the stone cut into his magic. But he felt better, good enough to take a deep breath. To look up. Give Hearth a small, weak smile.

 

“...Thanks.”

  
  


Hearth gave him beaming winning smile, his eyes closing with how big his grin was. “Anytime man, you know I got you!” He looked around if everyone else was having as good as luck as he was.

 

Reaper was whispering things to Death, cradling him to his chest, thankfully Death stopped screaming like he was being murdered. But given how he acted before, in some way, he  _ was  _ reliving being murdered. It didn’t change the fact Death was curled up in Reaper’s lap, he didn’t know if Death was crying to be honest, his face was pressed to Reaper’s chest.

 

There was nothing he could do there. Instead he looked to Gaster, seeing he was alone, alone and still under the influence of what ever happened back there. He looked to Sans and Papyrus to see why Gaster was alone.

  
  


Sans had stayed with Papyrus as the latter started to cry, reminding him that he was safe, that they were safe, that they were okay. He asked him what happened, though Papyrus either couldn’t tell himself or didn’t want to.

 

Eventually, though, he picked himself up again, taking Sans’ hand as he walked them both to Gaster, sitting down next to their father. He didn’t quite have the energy to talk to him, though Sans quickly took over for that, placing a hand gently on Gaster’s arm.

 

Only for him to start whimpering again, whining out quiet a, “no, no, no, no,” like he was scared of being attacked.

 

“shh, pops, ‘s all good now. ‘s jus’ us,” Sans told him gently. “your sons. y’re safe. ‘s not real. we’re all fine.” He wasn’t sure if it worked or not, but neither had he known with Papyrus, so Sans just kept going, his voice quiet, tired. Until Gaster eventually started to move. He raised a hand, running it over his face to wipe away the tears.

 

“you good, pops?” Sans asked, a little bit of hope in his voice.   
  
“I… think so,” he croaked out, but still not sounding completely there yet. “Thank you…”

  
  


“I think, we should rest here, this time?” Hearth asked the rest of the group, but ending up looking at their captains to know the final word.

 

Reaper nodded, rocking back and forth with his body, his tight grip around his brother made it look like they were starting to fuse together.

  
  


“soun’s good,” Sans agreed as well. He was sitting on his brother’s lap, holding Gaster’s hand as he was slowly coming to himself again.


	25. in which death is done with EVERYTHING

They waited until everyone had gotten over the effects, Reaper gently had to wake Death up, who passed out from exhaustion. At least he finally got his rest…

 

Death had woken up with a gasp, he would have screamed if Reaper’s face wasn’t all up on his face, reminding him he is safe, with Reaper, with his brother.

 

“wha da fuck.” Death said, looking around at his whole crew, “dat room fucked us up good.”

 

Reaper laughed, laughed and hugged his brother tightly, relieved.

 

Hearth got up, smiling at the Reaper brothers, “I guess it’s time for us to keep going?” he offered, getting a nod from both Captains. Regrouping, they all started to head the only way they dared to go.

  
  


Though, while they seemed to feel better, none of them exactly were quite up to their top yet, the room having shaken them too much to just completely forget about it.

 

Sans had taken off the ripped piece of cloth around his mouth, though he tied it around his neck to at least keep it around. He stayed close to his family as they walked, Gaster not wanting to talk about what he saw in that room, though Papyrus finally began talking. About weird nightmarish feelings he couldn’t quite put his finger on, paralyzing fears, panics.

 

It hurt Sans to hear him talk about it, Gaster and Grillby as well, even if they’ve gone through something themselves as well. 

  
  


Reaper went in front, his brother pressing to his side, holding his coat tightly in his small hand. The taller of the two had their chained scythes at the ready for the next puzzle.

 

Death was stilling rubbing his eye sockets under the hood, tired and sleepy. He is already running on low, Reaper was going to have to pick up the slack for him, only until Death can continue. Hearth was right behind Death, glancing over at him at times, but still had most of his focus with Grillby, who was walking right next to him. 

 

They followed a long hallway, looking almost like the one that had led to the greenery room. Or the one before that. Or before that. The hallways all looked the same is what I’m saying, the air always felt similarly humid and thick, suffocating. It was dark and uncomfortable and at this point everyone silently just wanted to have this over with.

 

They got through mostly trap free. There had been one tripwire that they almost triggered, had they not spotted it just in time. Else it didn’t seem like there had been anything on their path. In their way.

 

After a little while the corridor seemed to open up to a room, leading to a decorated door. Was this it? Is  _ this _ where they would  _ finally _ find the treasure?

 

The room itself looked decorated as well. While everything else had seemed kind abandoned and unimportant, this looked like someone had put effort into it. The walls were covered in ornaments, the floor covered in bricks of different colors, creating a mosaic of a large, colorful bar in front of the door.

 

“DID WE DO IT???” Papyrus asked, his voice both hopeful and excited. “LET’S GO!!!”

 

But Gaster held Papyrus tightly to his side. “Not so fast,” he muttered out, eyes focused on the colorful bricks. He let down of his son, before kneeling down, pressing his palm to the floor to push slightly, the brick quickly falling loose, a few surrounding ones following, creating a small hole. 

 

“It’s a pit trap.”

  
  


“THEN WE WILL HAVE TO GO OVER IT.” Reaper mused, making his brother let go of him and jumping to the other side, turning around to help the others.

  
  


Sans watched as Papyrus got ready to jump over the trap as well, though there was something odd. A very faint sizzling noise. And Sans’ eyes caught onto the floor beyond the pit trap, slightly raised, like they would sink into the ground under the weight of someone. Which was exactly what they did under Reaper’s feet.

 

“ _ fuck, _ ” Sans hissed out as it clicked together. Papyrus jumped, not quite making it, though Reaper caught him before Papyrus could fall through the hole falling apart under his feet. And Sans used that moment - not on purpose, mind you, but because that’s just how the events happened - to use his gravity magic, pulling Reaper down and into the hole, Papyrus falling with him.

 

“ _ Reape- _ ” Grillby barely had the time to call out for him, before everyone else felt a similar tug towards the hole, Sans already running over the trap as he screamed.

 

“ _ everyone get the fuck down there! _ ”

  
  


Hearth gasped, he wanted to hold on to something, something to keep himself from falling from pure instinct, but once he couldn’t find anything, he let it happen. No sense in fighting Sans, whatever the weird skeleton was doing.

 

Death on the other hand didn’t wait, just dived into the hole after Reaper the second his brother was pushed in, chained scythes out to wrap it around him, but Reaper reached out and pulled him towards him, knocking Death’s plan off the table.

  
  


Sans was already falling himself, Grillby and Gaster quickly following up, both from the quickly weakening force of Sans’ magic, but also by jumping after them themselves.

 

The fall wasn’t a particularly long one, though it got only scarier when they finally heard  _ what _ the traps triggered, a series of loud explosions, followed by the noise of the cave layer above them falling apart. There were bricks and rubble following them down the pit trap, racing them, and Sans let out another, terrified, “ _ fuck! _ ”

 

He relocated his magic, putting all the force he had into catching the rubble as one by one the monsters started to land on the cave moss covered floor. Sans got caught by Papyrus, the others following up shortly.

 

“ _ outta the way! _ ” Sans hissed out, before watching them quickly scramble away from where they had landed. And Sans’ magic finally let go, a wave of rubble rushing down the holes. It didn’t hit them at full force anymore, though some rocks and pieces still found their way to them.

  
  


Reaper held Papyrus and Death close, away from the rumble with his back turned to it to shield his two charges. Death was trying to look over his shoulder but he wouldn’t let him, not until Reaper was sure that nothing else was going to happen.

 

Hearth looked at Sans surprised, but slightly in awe. “How did you know?” Sans just warned them, pushed the ones in danger down, and even protected them all from falling rumble. Damn. This skeleton was badass.

 

Hearth’s soul skipped a beat when he stared at him, voice dying out before he could say more.

  
  


Sans just let himself drop, first on his ass, before he lied on his back on the ground, in the rubble, letting out an exhausted groan.

 

Grillby was with Gaster, making sure if he was okay, while Papyrus did the same with Reaper and Death. Though Sans could barely hear any of them anymore, he still heard Hearth’s question, and he raised his hand to gesture vaguely.

  
“floor. kinda like…” He moved his hand, palm flat, trying to picture the way the floor tiles were slightly raised. “an’ the noise. think they made some kinda, uh… spark. when reaper jumped.  _ ugh. _ ” He was really just glad that he had been right with his feeling, having been terrified he had just thrown them all into their certain death.

  
  


“That… that was amazing Sans! Incredible!” Hearth beamed, moving over to Sans to make sure he was alright as well. Can’t go praising someone that is going to flat out pass out. Hearth grabbed Sans and slowly lifted him up, still grinning at him. “That was so cool! Are you okay?”

  
  


Sans could feel his face warm up a little, not having expected the praise. He really just threw everyone into a pit trap… But it felt good and he gave Hearth a soft smile.

 

“yea, jus’ exhausted. spooked, ‘s all.” He easily relaxed in Hearth’s hold as Grillby, Gaster and eventually also Papyrus started to come up to them, talking to Sans, thanking him, asking him if he was okay. Though Sans just replied in a soft hum, very content in just staying in Hearth’s hold and taking a small nap.

  
  


But Hearth shook him lightly to stay awake, “We should be almost done, hold off until we leave. I can’t carry you through a dungeon of traps.” He will need to use his hands at some point, napping right now would only lead to problems for them. To prove his point, he gently set Sans down, so he could stay awake.

 

Reaper and Death were looking at the hole they fell through, and around them, to see the next course of action.

  
  


The new cave layer they had landed in seemed almost like it wasn’t even part of the dungeon. It was a misshapen cave, covered in moss and some vines. It was a lot darker, the only light sources being luminescent moss and mushrooms scattered across the cave, a few scarce minerals or ores in the walls being able to reflect some of the soft light.

 

It was wider than the room they had been in before, though the ground was uneven and it didn’t look like people had been here in a long time. Though, then again, considering the last trap  _ blew up the room _ meant that most likely no one had even made it as far as to that point even.

 

It was hard to see far into the cave, though if they ventured a bit deeper into it, they found a spiral staircase making it’s way up and up and up, seemingly leading into the room the previous door they’d seen would’ve led into. 

 

It looked long abandoned, the small steps overgrown my slimy moss and other plants. There was no railing either, only a pole in the middle, that the spiral went around, so climbing it would most likely turn itself into a challenge of not slipping and falling down.

  
  


“THERE IS A STAIR CASE OVER HERE,” Reaper informed, already heading to the stairs to inspect it, see if it was safe. Death followed behind him quite silently, Reaper was starting to wonder that maybe whatever that had made him act or see things back there are bothering him. So that is why he is being so quiet and distant, they would need to just give him space, Reaper wouldn’t want to push Death when he is trying to get out of the mindset of the past, of those memories. 

  
  


While reluctantly so, Sans also followed as everyone slowly and carefully started to climb the stairs. The steps were maybe big enough for two monsters at once, though they mostly settled for only one each, walking one after another, holding onto the pole for balance. Though the pole was almost as slippery as the stairs, and especially moist, making it sting slightly on Grilly’s palm. 

 

Really, though. It could’ve been worse. They could’ve gotten blown up back there.

 

They had already made it halfway up, the monsters staying mostly silent, as they were focused on trying not to slip, fall or look down in case of a fear of height. Though really, that silent only worked hand in hand in making the sudden, loud scream even louder.

 

One of the steps began to crumble, finally falling apart once Papyrus put his weight on it. The young skeleton held onto the pole, though it was too slippery to keep a firm grip and he was falling. He was falling and he was screaming, terrified, trying to catch onto one of the stairs or  _ anything _ else.

  
  


Reaper was about to move, about to act, when Death looked up and shouted something that made them both freeze.

 

“carbon!!!” Death had called out to Papyrus, but it wasn’t Papyrus’ name, it. wasn’t. his. name.

 

In the last second Death hand reached out and turned Papyrus’ soul blue, keeping him in the air long enough for Hearth to quickly come and grab the monster out from the air.

 

It only took Death a moment to realize what he just said, and it only felt like someone bumped cold water over him, he felt it wash over him from his head to his toes. It wasn’t a good feeling.

 

The silence returned…

 

But twice as dense.

  
  


The Reaper brothers weren’t the only ones reacting either. They’ve all heard that name. They all knew what it meant. And even if they didn’t have it as burnt into their memory as the Reaper brothers had, even if they only knew from it from a third-party source, it rang a bell. Rang a deep, painful bell.

 

And they could tell this was not a good moment.

 

Papyrus thanked Hearth quietly, climbing over the gap in the stairs, the others following up, more carefully now. More wary. With the silence as thick you could almost cut a slice out of it.

  
  


Reaper and Death were at the very front, but once the others started to catch up on them, they moved, or Reaper moved and it caused Death to move to.

 

They didn’t speck, didn’t say anything, not even a noise.

 

Everyone continued up the stairs silently, until they finally reached the top, leading to a room, an empty room, in the middle was a big golden egg, waiting to be picked up.

  
  


“IS THIS…” Papyrus began, his eyes widening as he appeared in the room, spotting the big golden egg, placed on a small pedestal. “OH MY GOSH!!! OH!!! WE DID IT! WE FOUND THE TREASURE!”

 

“wha…?” Sans asked, voice still tired and exhausted, though he didn’t need an answer, quickly spotting the big hunk of gold himself. And Papyrus reaching for it. “no papy  _ wait! _ ” He called out, though too late.

 

Papyrus was already lifting up the egg, the gold lying heavy in his arm, and Sans let out a small, desperate wheeze as he heard the noise of rock sliding, triggering another trap.

 

But…

 

Nothing happened.

 

Nothing except a door opening, light shining through it brightly, signaling that it would lead outside.

 

“...An exit,” Grillby breathed out. “The exit out of the dungeon. We’re… We’re  _ done. _ We  _ did it _ .” His voice was little, shocked, like he didn’t quite believe it himself. But also oh so relieved. Oh so happy.

  
  


Reaper sighed, walking over to Papyrus and grabbing the treasure, looking straight into his face sternly. “DON’T. DO. THAT. AGAIN. THERE COULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER TRAP.”

 

Everyone was tired and upset, they just wanted this done with.

 

“LET’S GO.” Reaper ordered, having the rest follow him quietly.

 

The sun felt like bliss, finally leaving the hell that was this place and feeling the fresh air breeze past them.

 

Time to go back to the ship.

  
  


Papyrus followed up, though now looking more guilty as he did so. But whether he felt chided or not, he was as relieved to be out of the dungeon as everyone else. 

Grillby was glad the air wasn’t as humid around them anymore, Gaster immediately stretched his arms, no longer feeling as trapped with the close walls around him. 

 

Sans was really just tired anymore. He went up to Hearth, only to lean almost all of his weight onto the elementals side, as he began walking like that, half asleep and exhausted.

 

“can’ wait to be back,” he mumbled out. “time for a five year nap.”

  
  


“Or just nap now, we are out.” Hearth knelt down to pick Sans up, cradling him into his arms gently. “You can rest now, sugar skull.” Hearth whispered into said skull, smiling softly.

  
  


“don’ mind if i do,” Sans hummed quietly, happily, nuzzling comfortably into the elemental, surrounded by warmth. It really was only a matter of seconds before he could feel sleep creeping onto him, taking him into it’s embrace.

  
  


Reaper and Death led them back around, since the opening left them in a different part of the island, they had to find their way back. Thankfully they finally found some food, they found vegetables growing all around, Grillby and Gaster were the ones ending up carrying them back to the ship, with a bit of Papyrus’ help.

 

Once they did make it, Reaper went down under the deck to hide the treasure, just in case something or someone went onto the ship and tried to steal it.

 

They decided to just rest for a while before heading sail once again, everyone deserved a nap after that.

  
  


By the time they all went to nap, Sans refused to let go of Hearth, so the elemental was simply stuck sleeping with the skeleton still clinging to him.

 

Which… Grillby saw as well, though he didn’t comment on it.

 

Was it hypocritical that the sight made him feel weird? No. It wasn’t like he minded it. He was just surprised that Sans and Hearth had gotten this close, let alone after they got upset about finding him asleep with Death.

 

He decided to no longer worry about it, instead following all the other’s and going for a nap himself.

 

-

 

“A SHOPPING TRIP!!!” Papyrus suggested to the Reaper brothers the next day. “WE COULD TRY TO FIND A TRADER TO SELL THE EGG, GET SOME MONEY OUT OF IT… WE COULD BUY EXOTIC FOODS OR SOMETHING COOL FOR THE SHIP!!! BEDS!!!”

 

Gaster and him were the only ones awake yet, though since Gaster had to follow up the deck behind his son, he had the feeling that the captains were only both awake because of Papyrus as well. They had all been very exhausted after the dungeon, Papyrus’ loud and excited chatter could be a bit much after that.

  
  


Death looked at the excited skeleton from the floor, glaring at him like he just stole his desert. “no, go ta ‘ell.” He growled, before curling back up to the wheel, Reaper only giving his brother a glance, before nodding.

 

“WE NEVER GO PUBLIC, NOR HAVE WE EVER NEEDED MONEY, AND BEDS WOULD ONLY TAKE UP SPACE.” Reaper listed off, shooting down all the things Papyrus suggested one by one, to leave nothing but broken dreams behind.

  
  


For a moment Papyrus deflated, shattered, like a kicked puppy. Feeling bad for his son, Gaster put a hand on his shoulder, about to encourage him in some way, only for Papyrus to already do so himself.

 

“THAT IS QUITE ALRIGHT!!! I’LL MANAGE TO CONVINCE YOU TWO SOONER OR LATER, I JUST NEED SOME HELP!!!”   
  
“Papyrus, I don’t think that’s- Ah.” Papyrus had already run off, under the deck again, most likely about to wake up the others. The scientist let out a quiet sigh, before turning to the two captains. “I… do apologize for him. Though I think he might have a point on getting to buy some things for the ship…”

  
  


Death grumbled something, yet that’s all it sounded like, his back to everyone but his brother’s feet, almost curling around Reaper’s boots. Reaper himself didn’t seem to mind, his attention was on Gaster. “WHAT WOULD WE EVER NEED FROM THE MARKET??”

  
  


“Well… I understand beds would only take up space, though sleeping bags might be nice. It is getting quite uncomfortable sleeping on the floor every night.” Gaster stretched his arms, as if to prove his point. He was starting to get older, and he certainly didn’t feel like spending those years with a hurting back.

 

“Grillby might also appreciate some spices for the kitchen. Maybe we’ll find some rare weapons, who knows…” 

 

Really, for the most part Gaster only liked the idea for a small bit of familiarity. A taste of his past life again… 

  
  


“I DON’T REALLY SEE WHY THOSE ARE NECESSARY, ME AND MY BROTHER SLEPT ON THE FLOOR AS FAR AS WE CAN EVEN REMEMBER, AND SPICES ARE POWDER AND LITTLE THINGS, WHY ARE THOSE NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL?” Reaper was only thinking logically, these things don’t ensure anything for them, just things that are there taking space.

 

“I DO SEE YOUR POINT IN WEAPONS, BUT WHAT SORT WOULD WE NEED, WE STILL HAVE EXTRAS FROM THE ONE’S MEISTER GAVE US, AND YOU ALL GOT VERY NICE WEAPONS. I DON’T ACTUALLY SEE THE POINT IN GOING WHERE THERE IS PUBLIC EYES AROUND US, BESIDES, ME AND MY BROTHER CAN EASILY BE SPOTTED.” Reaper nodded in conclusion, he didn’t act like he was rubbing it in, he was only stating facts with real appeal.

  
  


Gaster let out a thoughtful hum. He wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t thought either of them would be easy to agree. 

 

“Very well. It’s your call in the end,” Gaster finally said, before heading back under the deck to see what his son was up to.

 

Sans was groaning miserably, clearly trying to sleep, face buried into Hearth’s chest as Papyrus was sitting cross legged next to them.

 

“WE COULD DISGUISE THEM SO PEOPLE WON’T SPOT THEM IMMEDIATELY AND AS LONG AS WE PAY NO ONE’LL GET SUSPICIOUS. WE CAN FINALLY GET BEDS!!! AND BLANKETS!!! OH, SANS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET A NEW SHIRT SINCE YOU TORE THIS ONE!!!”

  
  


Hearth was half asleep, nodding to whatever Papyrus said with his half opened mouth and eyes, arms holding Sans loosely, yet still securingly. “And wha did they say?” Hearth asked, words slightly slurred from sleep.

  
  


“THEY WEREN’T INTERESTED!!!” Papyrus chirped out as cheery as ever. “THAT’S WHY I NEED YOUR HELP TO CONVINCE THEM!”

 

“can’t ‘elp,” Sans muttered out through his groans. “sleepin’.”

 

“...Papyrus, you can’t force them,” Grillby grumbled out, sitting up as he was woken up by the young skeletons chatter as well.

 

“OF COURSE NOT!!! BUT DON’T YOU THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA???” Papyrus squeaked out excitedly. “TOGETHER WE CAN TRY TO CONVINCE THEM!!!”

 

“...I  _ would _ love to have more utensils while cooking.” Grillby mused.

 

“AND NEW CLOTHES!!!”

 

“shhh,” Sans just shushed them, smushing himself more against Hearth, as if he could block out the sound.

 

“BROTHER!!! WE CAN GET  _ BEDS _ !” Papyrus said, though, getting another groan from Sans.

 

“fine. beds. ‘m in,” he grumbled out. “jus’ lemme sleep…”

  
  


“You want stuff Grillby?” Hearth turned to Grillby in question, getting a nod in return, before Hearth nodded himself too. “Guess I’ll do it, my best man has to spread his wings with that talent of his, am I right? Haha!” Hearth grinned up at Papyrus, giving him a thumbs up. 

 

“So when do we get at them?”

  
  


“RIGHT NOW!!!”   
  
“I’d wait a little,” Gaster argued, standing by the stairs that lead down the ship. “Death is still half asleep.”   
  
“ain’ the only one,” Sans grumbled, annoyed by both all the noise and the fact that his heat source had moved to create more noise. Why did no one ever want to let him sleep? He saved their lives, dammit, he deserved his five year nap.

 

“Well, I’m going to prepare a little breakfast for everyone,” Grillby finally said as he got up. “Maybe we can discuss it during that.”

  
  


Hearth nodded, before moving his arms to surround Sans whole, into a big, warm, gentle hug, pressing him to his chest and cuddling him.


	26. sans visits death's crib

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ## We decided to put this fic on a hiatus/discontinue it!
> 
> Before commenting on that or even complaining, please read:  
>  **We already wrote more of this rp. We enjoyed it and had a lot of fun with it.** We never finished it (so far), but we wrote several more pages of this and enjoyed every single one of them. Discontinuing updates are not related to our loss in interest, discouragement to continuing it, getting demotivated to write it, or any of the likes.  
> We decided to discontinue updates on this fic due to the underwhelming reaction towards it. We realise this doesn't speak to everyone, and we believe that there are people out there that read and enjoy this fic. But as compared to our other fics, this one has stands back by an incredible amount. (9 comments, when other (some even shorter) fics have 100-400 comments; 1000+ hits, when others have 5000+; etc.)  
> At this point we merely believe that the work put into splitting, titling and posting the chapters is not worth the bare reaction we get. Because that's what it is at the moment. A chore. The joy of writing has already happened and passed, now all we're doing is fitting what's already there for publishment.  
> We believe that this can be done with a more fit fanfiction that hopefully will get a better reaction.
> 
> I hope no one is too sad about this and you can find joy in our other, and possibly even new, fic!
> 
> -gaylie

They were gathered around the deck after breakfast, close to the wheel so both of the Reaper brothers could hear them out.

 

“WE COULD PUT YOU IN CLOAKS SO PEOPLE WON’T RECOGNIZE YOU. DON’T YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE UNDER PEOPLE AT LEAST ONCE???” Papyrus asked, only giving his words a second to sit, before already adding up on them. “THINK ABOUT IT!!! WHAT IF ONE DAY YOU’LL HAVE TO GO UNDER PEOPLE TO GET A GREAT TREASURE AND YOU CAN’T JUST KILL ALL OF THEM? YOU WON’T BE PREPARED AT ALL IF YOU DON’T PRACTICE AT LEAST  _ ONCE! _ ”

 

“heh. ‘e’s got a point,” Sans uttered out, leaning to his brother as he seemed to take on most of the talking.

  
  


“don’ like people.” Death muttered, draped over Reaper’s back like a skeleton backpack.

 

“IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME THAT THERE IS TREASURE WHERE YOU HAVE TO PASS PEOPLE AND BE AROUND THEM, THEN IT’S NOT OUR KIND OF TREASURE.” Reaper stated, not at all moved or caring about the words Papyrus tried to move them with, they were simply not interested.

 

“But don’t you want to at least see what’s there, maybe you’ll find something you might like.” Hearth encouraged, only getting a scoff in reply.

 

“nah.” Death said lamely.

  
  


“there’s good food,” Sans baited, quirking a brow at Death.

  
  


“not good ‘nough ta go t’rough dat ‘ell.” Death groaned, the image is only filled with nightmares.

  
  


“I’m surprised you’re not interested at all,” Gaster mused, his voice sounding like he wasn’t actually trying to be part of the discussion, only pointing out his own facts. “After all, with so many people around, big cities are the central of all sorts of information. You usually don’t even have to go looking for it…”   
  
  


Now that got their attention, “INFORMATION YOU SAY?” Now actually sounding intrigued, raising a brow in curiosity. 

 

Death turned towards the inventor, grinning, “an’... wha kinda stuff is people talkin’ ‘bout d’ese days?” Death was leaning towards Gaster a little, gravitating slowly to Reaper’s right side, closer to Gaster. 

  
  


“That depends on the people, really…”   
  
“I’VE LEARNED LOTS ABOUT YOU FROM OVERHEARING CONVERSATIONS!” Papyrus chimed in. 

 

“they usually talkin’ ‘bout their shady plans, givin’ ‘way way more information than they should,” Sans mused out as well, getting a teasing scoff from Papyrus.

 

“YOU NEVER INTERFERED ANY SHADY PLANS.” He said matter-of-factly.

 

“but i  _ could’ve _ ! only thin’ stoppin’ me was my own graciousness.”   
  
“OH, YOU’RE SO GRACIOUS,” Papyrus cooed sarcastically. “LETTING CRIMINALS DO THEIR CRIMES… A TRUE SAINT.”

 

“They’re right, though,” Grillby finally chimed in as well. “I worked at a harbor tavern, so I’ve met many travellers telling stories about their adventures, treasures. Legends, but also relations between crews. You can learn a lot around people.”

  
  


“hmmm…” Death sounded like he actually considered it, he looked at his brother, nudging him.

 

Reaper frowned, but it went unseen, “WE ARE BEING BAITED.” he stated, unhappy about this.

 

“yup.” Death nodded, grinning.

 

“THIS SUCKS…” 

 

“yup.”

 

“WHERE IS THE…. MARKET…?” Reaper asked, hesidently. 

  
  


Papyrus let out an excited screech, before going on to show them where the next, bigger city would be on the map, and continuing to ramble on on all the things they could do there. 

 

“damn. can’t believe you got ‘em with that, pops,” Sans said, letting out an impressed whistle as the other monsters started to move to let the captains - and Papyrus - to it. 

 

“I’m just hoping we can get something more comfortable to sleep on.”

 

They separated, Sans following Grillby as the elemental went back under the deck, though Gaster was quick to stop Hearth, a hesitant hand on his arm.

 

“Do you mind if we could talk for a bit?” He asked, his tone calm yet serious.

  
  


“Sure?” Hearth said uncertainty, reasonably confused. “What do you want to talk about?”

  
  


“I couldn’t help but notice your growing attention to my son,” Gaster said, his tone as hard as if he was interrogating him. And he was. “What is your intention with Sans?”

  
  


Hearth actually looked surprised, but otherwise didn’t back down, he was a fighter, and someone trying to intimidate him wasn’t new. But it was also better that Gaster wasn’t under Asgore anymore, and just a father now, a pirate father.

 

“Why Gaster, I’m actually surprised you would interfere with Sans’ love life, you kind of struck me the type to trust your son and his judgement.” Hearth mused, he didn’t at all sound mocking, there was surprise, but it was still strong and unwavering. “There isn’t much between us, I wouldn’t say there’s nothing, there  _ is  _ something, but Sans and me know exactly where we stand. There is no confusion.” He stated, meeting Gaster’s eyes with no fear any longer.

  
  


“You’re quite sure of that, aren’t you?” Gaster asked. His own stare was wavering, like he was the one getting intimidated in the end, though he held his ground. “I respect you, Hearth, I believe you’re a good man. I neither can nor want to interfere with my son’s love life, but I will have to warn you not to hurt him. Whatever it is that is going on between the two of you.”   
  
He finally broke the stare, feeling like he no longer needed it. And like it broke a spell, he relaxed, looking less as serious before and almost giving Hearth a smile. “I do hope you’ll make him happy.”

  
  


“Haha, actually…. Sans isn’t aiming for me!” Hearth grinned, “As much as I am glad Sans has a loving father that would care enough to warn me of not hurting him. Sans isn’t after me, me and Sans are just very comfortable friends racing to catch the heart of someone else!” Hearth grinned, like this whole ordeal was funny. “I would suggest you let your son love who he wants, because I know for a fact you won’t like who it is.”

 

Hearth’s eyes strayed over to the smaller pirate, who was running around the ship with a map in his mouth while Papyrus chased him. The small Captain having gotten tired of Papyrus’ non stop rambling that he just took the map and ran, laughing in his wake.

  
  


“Is that so…” Gaster mused out as he followed Hearth’s eyes, only for his own to widen in shock. He knew who he was talking about. It wasn’t hard to figure out. Though still, Gaster said nothing. Maybe because he knew he wasn’t going to like any answer he’d get. Maybe because he knew it was impossible.

 

“You might be chasing empty dreams,” he mused out finally. “Though I am in no place to stop you.” He just hoped, prayed that Sans wasn’t going to get hurt in the process.

 

-

 

They were almost there, almost to the market, only an hour and a half until they reach the docks.

 

Death had sneaked down to the second floor, moving towards the crates, licking his mouth, before entering the crate, closing the top over himself. 

 

Hello food.

 

It’s just you and me~

 

Death bit into a pear, savoring the taste before eating the whole thing whole. Oh, so good!!

  
  


Grillby didn’t even need to see Death to already let out a sigh, the noise of soft chewing and crunching noises almost familiar enough for him that they found their way into his nightmares sometimes.

 

“you good?” Sans asked the elemental curiously, only to watch him stand up with a resigned look on his face.

 

“He’s here,” he muttered out, like he could sense some kind of great danger. Which was technically not too far from the truth.

 

Sans followed up awkwardly, like a duckling, as Grillby made his way to where they stored the food, looking through every corner to find the evildoer that decided to haunt him. Sans still didn’t know what was going on exactly, though by now he could hear the noise as well, following it until he reached a specific crate. He didn’t say anything, though was pointing at the crate for Grillby to see, the elemental coming up as well, lifting the top of it.

 

Only to see Death inside the crate, face stuffed with food.

  
  


Death looked up, stopping his movements the second he saw he was caught, staring at Grillby. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Death moved and closed the lid slowly, without a word.

  
  


Hearing Sans let out a snort of laughter, Grillby rolled his eyes, already putting his hands on the lid again, lifting it up. 

  
“Death, you can’t eat up all our supplies. The others have to eat, too.”

  
  


There was a noise and many seeds of different kinds starting pelting Grillby at a breakneck pace, Death firing seeds from his mouth like a machine gun, after a whole minute, all the ammo was gone, and Death closed back the lid and disappeared. 

  
  


Grillby let out a surprised yelp, not even realizing what was going on at first, before he put his arms up to shield himself. By the time the attack stopped Death had already disappeared again and Sans was lying on the ground sounding like he was about to die of laughter. 

 

“ _ This isn’t funny! _ ” Grillby complained, though his voice sounded desperate, which only made Sans burst out in even more laughter. 

 

“d’aww, c’mon,” he cooed out through his laughter as he finally managed to sit up again, one hand against the crate to keep himself upright. 

  
  


There was a small creaking sound, Death, opened up the crate again and looked at them, before looking at Sans. Without saying nothing or warning, Death reached to Sans and grabbed his jacket, pulling him into the crate with him.

  
  


Sans let out a surprised yelp as he felt himself get dragged in, only thinking that this must be his deserved karma.

 

“Sans!” Grillby called after him, having been busy grumpily wiping seeds off him before they got into his flames, only looking up in time to see the skeleton disappear into the crate.

  
  


Death closed back the lid behind Sans, laying him on his back then going over him. They were formed as a weird ‘x’, where Death’s legs were beside Sans’, crossing at their stomachs and their upper body right next to each other. Death was face down, lower half laying down while one arm held up his upper half so he wouldn’t putting all his weight on Sans, under him.

 

Death only continued to eat, not minding Sans as he did.

  
  


Sans blinked surprised once he was on his back, his eyes needing a moment to adjust to the dimmer light. “uh… hi?” Sans muttered surprised, watching Death munch on his food. He wasn’t sure why he was pulled in here, but he was far from complaining. “nice, uh… nice place y’ got yourself. you come here often?”

  
  


“i do.” Death said through a banana, even the peel, before grabbing a cucumber and stuffing it into Sans’ face, thinking that over, before stuffing a avocado in there too.

  
  


Sans sucked in a surprised breath, before his mouth got stuffed with food. He didn’t even think about it for long, before he began crunching through the cucumber and avocado, ignoring the peel completely and just eating it as well. That was actually pretty nice. He could live like that.

 

The lid opened once more, this time revealing the sight to another lid in Grillby’s hand, used as a shield. “Sans are you-” He paused, looking past the shield to see Sans’ face stuffed with food. His voice was deep with betrayal. “ _ You too. _ ”

  
  


Death is watching them both like he is watching a drama, looking back and forth from the two monsters, excited what they were going to do next. Death laid down on top of Sans and rested his head on Sans’ shoulder, their bodies more alining so Death was more fully on him. “‘e ‘s mine now.” He stated, and arm going around to pull Sans closer, trying to imitate how buddies put their arm over friends shoulders, but the position made it difficult, so Death opted for Sans’ waist.

  
  


Sans felt himself heat up almost immediately, glad that Death’s head was on his shoulder, because that way he most likely didn’t see the way he was flushing already, hand hesitantly going around Death as well.

 

“heh. sorry, chef, but y’ ‘eard ‘im. ‘m… his now.” The words felt… right in his mouth, and almost instinctively he nuzzled into the other skeleton a little, finding comfort in the closeness. Before he remembered something.

 

“oh! right!” He said, before quickly spitting out the avocado pit against a very confused Grillby, getting a startled yelp as reply, before the lid fell shut again.

  
  


Death barked out a laugh, turning his head to look at Sans’ face, his chin resting on Sans’ shoulder, “nice shot.” grinning at the skeleton under him, before stuffing an orange in his mouth, before munching on it, juice going down his chin before he swallowed.

  
  


Sans was laughing as well, though it was softer, face still flushed by their closeness and - oh god. This was it. This was his opportunity. They were alone in a closed off space, close and comfortable and the universe was  _ screaming _ at Sans to make a move.

 

He might regret this.

 

But at the same time, he  _ will _ regret this if he wouldn’t use the opportunity.

 

Sans leaned in a little bit closer as he closed his eyes, their mouths touching in a soft kiss.

  
  


Death froze, he didn’t move away nor press into it. He stood still, staring at Sans, his face so close to his own. Death would have been alarmed if Sans’ hands went close, or any other body part, but not the face, Sans’ face he didn’t expect.

 

It wasn’t… bad either. Death never experianced someone pressing their face to his, and the spark between them made Death want to shiver. But… Why?

  
  


Sans pulled away again, as slow and gentle as he had kissed him, though his face was flushed even more than before and the taste of orange lingered on him. He opened his eyes again, though he couldn’t actually manage to face him for longer than a second, instead looking down to Death’s chest.

 

“‘s… is that ok…?” He asked hesitantly.

  
  


Death’s head was tilted to the side, confused. “why did ya press yer face ta mine?” He asked, genuinely curious, no judgement or anything negative in his voice, just plain curiosity. Oh  _ course  _ Death knew what a kiss was, but Death decided not to call it that, not until he knows the modive. Kiss was to show affection, he doesn’t know what Sans did just now.

  
  


“i…” Ah crap. He hadn’t thought that far. He hadn’t thought he’d have to  _ explain _ himself. “i, uh… i wan’ed… it… seemed right,” he muttered out, his voice little and hesitant. Soft.

 

“...i… like you…”

  
  


“ya ‘ave… ‘ffec’ion fer me?” Death asked, quietly. “why?” Why me? A murderer? Didn’t you not like me before? What changed your mind now? Why did you just give me affection!?

  
  


“i do…” Sans said, though by now his voice was high and nervous, anxious of Death’s reaction. If he would react badly. Would get mad, or not believe him. “y’re cute, y’re badass. ‘t feels… good t’ be in your arms.” And if to prove his point he relaxed more into Death, his own arms hesitantly going around him, gentle enough that Death could easily shake him off would he want to.

  
  


“i don’ understand.” Death breathed out, his hands fisting Sans’ jacket. “‘ow can ya be dis sick, ta like someone dat ‘lmost illed ya, ‘o nabbed yer bro an’ pops. ya would be so messed up ta wan’ someone ‘o killed many, blood on my hands, da lives of many.” Death didn’t move away though, he didn’t move away, he just looked down at Sans, glaring at him, of course Sans wouldn’t be able to see it.

  
  


“i-i… but-” Sans’ own voice was shaking slightly, not having prepared for this kind of situation. Not sure what he was supposed to  _ do, _ to  _ say, _ how to  _ defend _ himself, because essentially Death was  _ right. _

 

“y’ also… saved paps, though. several times.” Sans finally muttered out in reply. “y’ didn’ kill us when you could. y’ taught us to fight. y’re more than just someone that almost  _ killed _ me!”

  
  


“guess gonna ‘ave ta remind ya all ‘o i am, ‘o  _ we  _ ‘re. ya all ‘re gettin’ ta comfortable.” Death growled lowly, close to Sans’ face, thankfully it didn’t sound threatening.

  
  


“i-... i-”   
  
“...-is  _ your _ whole thing, I’m not sure I want to get involved.” Grillby’s muffled voice could be heard from outside the crate, before the lid got opened again, this time two elementals looking down at them. 

  
  


Death turned his head to look at the two flames, seeing Hearth gasp and look up and down their position, not like Death cared. “Well, have we interrupted you two~?” Hearth gave Sans a look.

 

“nah.” Death mumbled, getting up and getting out of the crate, before walking out to the deck.

  
  


Grillby blinked down at Sans surprised, the skeleton now looking lost and alone, before he, too, got out of the crate.

 

“sorry ‘bout the ‘cado pit,” he muttered. “think ‘m gonna nap.”   
  
“Sans!” Grillby called out quickly, before the skeleton could push himself past the flames. “Are you okay?”   
  
The way Sans hesitated was probably enough or an answer. “sure,” he said anyways, though. “wake me when we’re there.”

 

“WE’RE HERE!!!” Reaper called from upstairs.

  
  


Sans let out a groan of annoyance, both his palms running over his face.

 

“ugh. fine. wha’ever,” he grumbled out, before heading up to the deck.

  
  


Indeed they were, the crew were just tiring the ship down when the others came up, Death noticeably farther than the others.

 

“ALRIGHT, WE ARE GETTING WHAT WE NEED AND NOTHING ELSE, I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE MORE THAN I WANT TO.” Reaper boomed to them all, leaving no room for argument, before pulling on the cloak Papyrus had prepared for him and his brother.

 

Death put it on with no delay, already slinking over to his brother and staying by his side. “where da we go?” Death looked at Papyrus mostly, since he was the one to suggest this and to plan with them. He also seemed the most excited.

  
  


“THERE’S A BAZAAR IN THE CENTER OF THE TOWN!!!” Papyrus told them excitedly. He was squeezing himself between the two Reaper brothers, taking a hand of each of them, before running ahead. “COME ON!!! I KNOW THE WAY!!!”

 

And Sans and Gaster did too, vaguely. They’ve been in this town some years ago on one of Gaster’s journey, though never quite had too much time to explore the bazaar. Papyrus used to be upset about it, though it looks like he got his chance after all.

  
  


Reaper followed without another word, letting himself be dragged, while his brother, was literally  _ being  _ dragged. Death clearly didn’t look like he wanted to be with. “jus’ ‘urry up an’ show us.”

 

This was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?

  
  


They arrived at the bazaar after a bit, vendors of all kinds scattered as far as the eye can see and farther. Papyrus already let out an excited squeal as he pointed to all the kinds of vendors and stands, all the things they could buy, chattering about it excitedly. 

 

Gaster quickly found someone selling fabrics, curtains and blankets, even sleeping bags and didn’t waste a second to go up there, Papyrus quickly following up.

  
  


Death shook his hand from Papyrus’ grip, figuring he could let the younger skeleton have his brother for a little bit. Death turns and finds Grillby going towards a stand with cooking utensils and spices, since he got nothing better to do, he followed the flame.

 

But geez, he already felt so tired and sluggish being around all these people, and since he was so short, people often bump into him and push him because they don’t see him. That was degrading and insulting, Death don’t want to be treated like a child when someone asks where his parents are. 

 

So Death quickly went up to Grillby and pulled on his sleeve to get his attention. “can i piggyback on ya?” He pointed at Grillby’s back to drive his point across, before making grabby hands shyly, almost giving up on it half way. 

  
  


Grillby glanced down at the skeleton surprised, but he eventually gave him a nod, crouching down to Death’s size.

 

“Hop on,” he told him, waiting for Death to climb onto him, before standing up again, looking more through the wares. He really didn’t want to buy too much, he knew the captains weren’t exactly approving of all this, though he also would love to have a bit more available in the kitchen…

  
  


Death sat on his perch happily, now that others won’t step or push him. His hands were around Grillby’s neck, his chin resting on his shoulder as he looked over what Grillby was glancing over. “wha ‘s dis?”

  
  


“Well, it’s mostly spices,” Grillby mused out as he went through some of the jars of spices and dried herbs, listing some of them up to Death. "We might want to get a handful of chives or some basil, though garlic is hard to get your hands on as well…” 

 

He also was considering a larger pot and maybe pans, since it was starting to get difficult to cook enough for all of them in some cases…

  
  


“why?” Death asked, already glaring at the spices like it personally offended him, “why da we even need dem? ‘re dey crucial fer survival?” Death had judgement and wariness in his voice, already preparing to say no to something so pointless.

  
  


Grillby quirked a brow, though he knew Death couldn’t tell, unable to see his face very well from his position. If he’d tell him that they’d make their food taste better, he wasn’t going to be happy about it, was he?   
  
“They’re healthy,” Grillby finally concluded. 

  
  


“‘ealt’y?” Death asked, quirking a bone brow himself. “does it… make ya stronger? da crew?”

  
  


“In a way, most likely,” Grillby mused, maybe exaggerating a bit for his advantage. “Maybe not immediately physically, but a healthy diet can make you stronger.”

  
  


“ah…” Death nodded, before just burying his face into Grillby’s neck to maybe catch a few minutes of sleep. “‘ll ‘llow it.” He murmured, snuggling up to the warmth, only to relax a moment after.

 

“get wha ya need.” Death muttered under his breath, into Grillby’s warm neck.

  
  


Grillby was surprised, both at the words, but also the way Death snuggled into him. But he smiled warmly, a hand almost about to gently run over Death’s skull, before he caught himself. Rather not. The last time he’d gotten close to the other’s face he regretted it.

 

But he picked out the herbs and spices he needed, as well as a bigger pan, paying the vendor before Death could change his opinion.

**Author's Note:**

> make sure to check out [gaylie's](https://perhapshomo.tumblr.com) and [comic's](https://comic4244.tumblr.com) tumblr as well as [discord](https://discord.gg/qRRxn6g) (especially now that tumblr is going down)


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